Survey of Xeron
Job: coder, musician
Job: coder, musician
Survey submitted: Mon 26 May 2008
Handle, ex-handle(s):
Xeron, Mr. Tickle
Name, birthday, origin:
Peter Gordon
27th July 1979
Bristol, England
Group, ex-group(s):
IRIS, Darkage, Spearhead, Def 'n Tickle
What was your first group, your role in that group and what did that group produce?:
My first group was spearhead. We produced one music disk, coded by myself, really badly in Blitz Basic featuring some of my AHX tunes. We actually had people in that group capable of much better things, but I don't remember anyone actually releasing anything else. I was very new to the scene, having only seen a couple of demos my friend sent me in the post (Jesus on E's and State of the Art), and then recently getting a modem suddenly found contact with actual sceners and decided to get involved.
What motivates you to spend time on the scene?:
Not much; i just enjoy it i guess.
What is your favorite color?:
Whats a "color"? Did you mean colour?
On what platform(s) did you begin your computing journey, and when was this?:
My parents got our first computer when i was 6. It was an Acorn Electron and i thought having a computer was the most exciting thing ever. Sad eh?
I started to learn BASIC on that, but i had to share it with the rest of the family. Later i bought an Atari 2600 off my friend with my pocket money; it wasn't a computer but at least it was all mine! He regretted selling it to me and a few months later i swapped it with him for his Oric Atmos, and I learnt to program some more on that.
Later, I was desperate to get an Amiga 500 after seeing my friends one, but my parents couldn't afford it so they got my a C64, but I didn't mind too much, the C64 was great, had great games, and i enjoyed it, even if my friends were all getting Amigas...
I got my own back later, though, I was one of the first in my school to get the new Amiga 1200
What platform(s) do you use now?:
Amiga OS4 on my A4000PPC and AmigaOne XE, OS3.1 on my A1200, and Windows XP on a laptop.
What is your favorite programming language, effect, tool, coder, platform, book?:
My favourite programming languages are C, and 680x0 assembler. Historically, i have also enjoyed Amiga E, AMOS, and Blitz Basic.
I am proficient in 6502 and Z80 assembler, and have dabbled in Signetics 2650, ARM and x86 assembler.
I'm also proficient in PHP, C++, Java, Pascal and a few others.
My favourite effect? Hmm.. Anything which abuses side effects of oldskool hardware to achieve something beyond the designed specifications...
Favourite coder? Too hard to narrow it down, but i'm in awe of Dr. Doom, Blueberry, Kalms, Azure, and StingRay i guess. They're all far too clever for their own good.
What is/are your favorite piece(s) of music(s) - from a demo production or a scener (released outside of a demo)?:
Oh.. thats far too hard to choose. My favourite AHX tunes are "Aftermath" by Oxide and "Electric City" by JazzCat... sooo good.
I have a soft spot for stardust memories.. i dunno. loads My favourite .MOD chiptune is Chipski by Technix, which is a cover of the theme tune to a skiing tv programme in the UK called "ski sunday", and to me its just hilarous, as well as very well done.
What is/are your favorite picture(s) - from a demo production or a scener(released outside of a demo)?:
Dunno.
What music program are you using the most to express yourself? Why?:
Hively Tracker mostly, because I wrote it for myself
I <3 AHX, Hivelytracker and Protracker 3.6.
Which composer, artist or group of the real life did inspire you most?:
Oh my... too many. Jogier, 4Mat, Hubbard, Oxide, JazzCat, ... loads of them.
Do you play any instrument? Which?:
I can play a few chords on the guitar, but really badly. I took violin lessons as a child, but gave up because i found it really boring.
Discuss: your first steps towards becoming a coder, who helped you, what problems did you run into, your first effect, the future of demo coding:
First steps towards becoming a coder? Typing in games from Acorn User magazine and then modifying them to see how they work.
Who helped me? Too many people Modems/BBS's and then later the internet have proved very helpful.
My first effect was probably scrolling text on my Acorn Electron when i was little. I stared at my scrolling text for hours because it was the first thing i'd coded completely from scratch. It was basically just print left$( a$, offset ) .
The future of democoding is CODING WITH YOUR MIND!!11
Which project that you worked on was the most exciting and interesting for you? And why?:
I dunno. HivelyTracker probably.
What is your favorite demo, intro, megademo, retrogame, slideshow, musicdisk, diskmag, wilddemo?:
Demo: For code, maybe "When we ride on our enemies".. just a flyby, but the code is so good it makes my jaw drop even now. I also love all of Dr. Dooms recent demos.
Intro: Probably Noxie or Ikanim. Blueberry is so clever its sickening.
Retrogame: Super Mario World
Musicdisk: I dunno. I liked the presentation on Extravaganja even if the music wasn't to my taste. I liked the Noise From Heaven packs, too. (i'm also really proud of Planet Hively
Diskmag: Grapevine. Purely for nostalgic reasons, and nothing to do with its relative quality compared to other mags.
Discuss: minimalistic demos, cracktros, fucktros, joke demos, lamers, compo winners at big parties, demotools, diskmags, chiptunes, glenz vectors, programming languages, photoshop, textmode:
Joke Demos: Good if people still put some effort into them. If people try to excuse pure shit because its "a joke demo", then its still basically just shit. I think i got the balance right with "You Are Completely Anonymous", and "The human body is a curious contraption", although the latter should have been better.
Compo winners at big parties: Usually the wrong one
Textmode: o/ Love it. Dunno why.
Glenz vectors: When done on actual planar hardware, in planar: Good. Recreated on modern computers for oldskool feel: Bad. Oh what the hell, its all good really. Glenz FTW.
What percentage of modern demos are 3d flybys?:
eleventy percent
What percentage of older demos are the same effects recycled?:
dunno
What platform(s) needs more demos?:
I'd personally love to see more demos on: Atari Lynx, Atari 7800, Acorn Electron/BBC, C65, Nintendo Wii (with interactivity), Pokemon Mini, and Enterprise 64/128.
Which parties do you intend to go to, and which parties would you like to go to? Please describe your personal experiences with your most favourite or impressive party you have ever been at.:
Intend to go to: Breakpoint, Sundown (at least one or other each year)
Like to: Motorola Inside, Outline.
How did the scene alter since you are taking an active part in it? Can you explain why?:
The internet has changed the scene massively. Also, the increase in computing power has changed the focus of the scene from pushing limits to design, but that was inevitable.
I always enjoyed the coder porn and limit pushing more than design, which is why i love retro-scenes, small size intros etc. and i'm not really into PC demos on the whole (although some are of course worthy of my attention
What are your dreams/goals in life, did scene help you and have you achieved them yet?:
My only goal in life is to enjoy life. Not doing too badly right now
The scene has played a part in that, yes.
Finally, do you have some special greetings? Feel free to add links to your graphics, screenshots of effects, modules or other pieces of your work.:
Greetings to everyone, ever.
/ eR O N!!111one
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