Interview With Level 4 (4/4)
by Chester of Brainstorm


14.What hardware do you use?
My equipment is:

- AMIGA 2000
- 2*3.5" drives
- 2*5.25" drives
- Monitor 1081
- printer: STAR SG-10

15.What's your opinion about other computers like Archimedes, Atari ST, C-64, Macintosh, Next, etc. ?
-ATARI ST: faster than #AMIGA but it's hardware is shit. Only real good coders are able to code fast games on a computer without custom-chips. C-64: I had one for 3 years and I think that this was a great computer especially the Sound Interface Device was great and I wish the AMIGA had a soundchip made in the same way. MS-DOS computers are still worst of all because it's compatibility prevents the developers from improving the computer directly. The only thing they do is releasing stupid high priced cartridges to improve the shit they sell.

16.What do you think about the software for the AMIGA (Games, demos, utils) ?
-I think that the software developers should concentrate more on coding good utils instead of wasting their time by writing stupid games. I haven't played a game for a longer time because the things I do for our group and for DISC take most of my spare-time. People should better wait for good ideas before coding a game. Furthermore it seems that most time is spent on coding an introducing sequence that lets you wait for half an hour before the game itself can be played. I'm too impatient for that. There are still too few utils available. The acceptable ones have to be improved by freaks and new ones won't be made because the average AMIGA-user is just interested in playing games. Demos are very interesting if they are good. But most of the demos being spread are very boring and I always think about the wasted time which was involved.

17.What's your opinion about cracking games and other programs?
-In my opinion crackers are mainly failed coders who want to become famous in a fast way. The intentions have changed. Today only quantity counts. Crackers do not think about the consequences for a software company (or they try to ignore !!!) which invested a lot of money in a game. Swappers may not understand but coders who intend to sell their products commercially will surely curse the ones who crack them (even more if they knew each other from the good old scene). If cracking were forbidden, only the real freaks who want to use their AMIGA in a creative way would remain. I woul vot for a 'cracking by necessity'-solution.

18.What's your opinion about modems? Do you think that they could destroy the good personal contact between the groups? How do you spread own productions?
-Modem-trading surely destroys the personal contact if people stop writing to their contacts. But if there is a really serious contact then it is obvious to keep him (the whole question depends on people's attitude).

19.You are releasing sounds, too. There came a lot of Soundsoftware in the last months, but the ultimative SoundTracker is still ultimative, or isn't it?
-The Noisetracker is still the best of all available music-systems wich use samples as instruments. The disadvantage is that one pattern always requires 2kB no matter how many notes are played. The use of waveforms enables short sounds (for games) but the avaiblable programs are too difficult or some important functions are missing. Best would be a mixture of Noisetracker and Hippel's replay-routine including a routine which crunchs a Noisetracker module to a replayable file.

20.And finally some last words from you ...
I think that I've written enough...

So, thanx for this interview and good luck for your crew!

This article originally appeared in the Amiga diskmagazine "Zine #4" by Brainstorm 1990.

Some content may refer to activities that are illegal in some countries. BitFellas does not support such activity.
Addresses and other contact information were only valid when this magazine was originally published, in april of 1990.