Survey submitted: Fri 15 Jun 2007 - 15:02:11

Handle, ex-handle(s):
Preacher

Name, birthday, origin:
Martti Nurmikari, November 23rd 1981, Finland.

Group, ex-group(s):
Traction, Brainstorm, Static, Jumalauta, ISO (NoID, PCU, Mirage). Might be some others as well.

What was your first group, your role in that group and what did that group produce?:
The first group.. PCU. Coder, leader, the general ignoramus we all
were back then. It produced nothing, of course. My first production was Viping by NoID in 1999, for that I did most of the code.

What motivates you to spend time for the scene?:
The feeling of... *something*. I don't know. I love making stuff. I think I would make that stuff even if there was no scene at all.

What is your favorite color?:
Black. Black on black.

On what platform(s) did you begin your computing journey, and when was this?:
C64, in 1985 or so.

What platform(s) do you use now?:
Mostly Win32, though I've been thinking of doing stuff for more "alternative" platforms.

What is/are your favorite piece(s) of music(s) - from a demo production or a scener (released outside of a demo)?:
Probably the Dope soundtrack by Jugi / Komplex. To be honest, I'm more the rock band kind of a guy.

What is/are your favorite picture(s) - from a demo production or a scener (released outside of a demo)?:
Probably something made by Visualice.

What is your favorite programming language, effect, tool, coder, platform, book?:
C++, Voxel twister and glowing lines , Visual Studio (I won't touch demotools), Navis probably, Win32, Cyberiad by Stanislaw Lem (programming related? Probably something by Michael Abrash, haven't read programming books in years)

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:
I saw Crystal Dreams II, and later Stars. The Wonders of the World. I actually started really learning programming so that I could make a game, though.. there was an article in Mikrobitti about simple mode 13h stuff. I had done some simple stuff with the C64 as a kid, but those were mostly limited into text adventures and ugly random sid bleeps. I never got around making that game until I got a job as a game programmer.

I think my first effect was a plasma, or maybe a fire. The first one I was really proud of was a bitmap displacement distorter, probably.. but of course, to a 14-year old, all things even resembling effects felt great. The problems were mostly caused by nonexistant information about stuff (I remember trying to decipher a bumpmap tutorial written completely in assembler), and the fact that I didn't know anyone I could ask help from. That didn't change until much later, anyway.

The future of demo coding is bright. It will probably move more to the shaders, and then it'll be the good old days all over again. I am also very happy that nowadays demos are much more than just code.

Which project that you worked on was the most exciting and interesting for you? And why?:
Probably Fiat Homo, since there was this feeling of intense stimulation and purpose. Also, I knew from the start that it was going to be awesome. Sort of a pinnacle of my demo career. I don't think it has been surpassed by me at the time of the writing.

What is your favorite demo, intro, megademo, retrogame, slideshow, musicdisk, diskmag, wilddemo?:
Too many to list and to be fair to anyone

Discuss: minimalistic demos, cracktros, fucktros, joke demos, lamers, compo winners at big parties, demotools, diskmags, chiptunes, glenz vectors, programming languages, photoshop, textmode:
Minimalistic demos - my thing, as you can probably see. I like purity, and using only the bare minimals to express what you want. I prefer too little to too much.

Cracktros - Sometimes cool, but way too often just crappy oldskool memorials with horrible code. The fact that computers were limited and couild only output RBG-puke colored rasterbars in the Eighties is no reason to make it look like that nowadays.

Fucktros - Sadly seen way too little nowadays.

Joke demos - Not my thing, really. Crappy ones at least, a demo can be funny and actually good at the same time, but few are.

Lamers - future sceners, hopefully.

Compo winners - Usually what appeals to the mainstream taste the most. Which is all fine in itself, but they rarely move me that much.

Demotools - Not my thing, but they've been certainly used to make some good stuff.

Diskmags - Sadly neglected medium nowadays. I always rush to read them when new ones come out, even Hugi.

Chiptunes - Are fun, but they could try evolving in even that genre..

Glenz vectors - They've kind of been superceded by more modern stuff, but I still remember them fondly. I was ecstatic when I got my first glenz vector working (also a cheap way to avoid making a sort! )

Programming languages - Nice abstractions on top of Turing machines. Most of them have a purpose, and there are better topics to fight wars on.

Photoshop - A useful tool indeed. I suck with it.

Textmode - Ugly and kind of pointless for making demos in, but command line is for real geeks.

What percentage of modern demos are 3d flybys?:
Way too much.

What percentage of older demos are the same effects recycled?:
Way too much.

What platform(s) needs more demos?:
All of them.

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.:
Every single Breakpoint from here on now until I die, and most Finnish parties too, and it would be lovely to visit more parties outside Finland.

My favourite party has to be Breakpoint'05, since I came there as a total newbie and didn't know anyone (this is actually true, never met anyone else present at the party), and leaving it with a lot of new friends. Nothing can ever surpass that.

How did the scene alter since you are taking an active part in it? Can you explain why?:
It's gotten a bit smaller, I think, and also the quality of stuff has gone up. More professional would be a good description, I think.. this is probably because of people getting older, and having real jobs and all that. I would be happy to see more youngsters coming onboard.

What are your dreams/goals in life, did scene help you and have you achieved them yet?:
My goals are to live my life to the end, and when looking back, not regret much. I think I'm on my way there.

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.:
I love you all.

Insert ASCII of your nick, group, or similar here:
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