Interview with Goblin / Xtatic

Cremax/Nothing

1. Can you tell us about you and your group?

I am a pixel artist (and occasional coder) for Xtatic, I'm co-editor of the GFX Zone webpage (but I haven't done much lately), and I'm lead editor of Restless Diskmag. Xtatic is a fairly popular Australian group, by that, I mean, some people have actually seen our productions ;)

2. What do you think about the progress nowadays in the demoscene?

There isn't much of it. We lay floundering wondering what the future has to offer, and bitch about what we think it SHOULD offer.

3. Do you think 3D is making a better scene or boring one?

Boring.

4. What do you think about making demos under windows?

Boring. But it is a nice novelty to see a demo running in a window while you're on IRC. It's very cute, but it takes the effect away, BIGTIME... Can you imagine Second Reality in a window? Total lack of 'feel'.

5. What platform you think supports the demoscene better? Do you think DOS will survive?

Yes, I think DOS will be around for a hell of a long time, simply because there are a lot of die-hards. In 10 years time, I'll probably fire up my old 8086-8Mhz (with DOS), to see if it still runs. And of course, I've still got all these old DOS demos on CD, I'm not just going to throw them all away.

6. What you think about hardware "support" on demos?

I hate it. Ask me again after I can afford my own VooDoo2 ;)

7. Which is/was your favourite party (if you attended one)?

Probably Oz'96. It was the first real demo event in Australia, or at least the first I knew about, and it was great, people came from far and wide, and there was interest and activity in the scene :)

8. What is your favourite demo?

Probably "The Professional" by Luc Besson, oh, hang on, DEMO... erm, I guess one of Statix's masterpieces, probably Square.

9. Would you want to contribute to the demoscene with anything?

No, I hate writing articles, and drawing graphics, and coding.

10. What do you think about diskmags?

Well, being lead editor of one, I guess means that I don't think they're too bad, eh? :) I think there's an element of nostalgia in the whole concept, but I think web sites like GFX Zone, that are almost like a constantly evolving magazine are quite cool.

11. Are diskmags still necessary?

No, not necessary, but still a nice idea. [Incidently, if you're the editor of a diskmag, try and find Programmer/Universe, Darkness/Imp, Adok/Hugi, or myself, and ask about 'TEN']

12. What do you think about other media like irc, newsgroups, online-mags?

IRC is EVIL. Newsgroups are great... for porn, and online-mags are perhaps the way of the future.

13. What groups do you consider "well-known" and in some way contributed to the scene?

Pulse, Bomb, The Black Lotus, Quad, Xtatic :)

14. When do you think to release a new demo from your group? (we would like to know :)

Demo? Demos are evil. (We might try a 64k or two for July release).

15. One last question, what are your favourite music bands? ;)

Astral Projection & Orbital