Monorail by Bypass & Black Maiden (By Wie8 of Asenses)
Bypass is one of my favorite groups, side by side with the group Outracks. I like the style of Bypass. Their latest productions "Kardiogram" and "Minusfisk" made a good impression on me. From every new released production I expect more and more.. It's natural I think that people spread their wings, and we could expect more. But now I had a chance to become convinced that the Bypass team (in my modest opinion) are resting on their laurels... Their new, finished project is called "Monorail".
First of all, I have to say that this demo is based on a concept known from the intro "Ausflug", which was released two years ago. Ausflug wasn't especially sensational, just a intro which showed boxes and many other colorful things. I think ok, everyone could make a mistake, even the best one. But now Bypass made a "mistake" by doing a remake of the Ausflug idea in a demo... so "I ask you!", as a passenger to get off. I must admit that the idea, an end in itself - isn't bringing me to my knees. For the message and design, how probably "minimalistic". If anyone would like to persuade me to believe that this is a intro/demo with a message - I would just laugh at that idea. I treat this production as junk... just absolute pity!.. how long can you spend? As well that's interesting, after depacking all the prod takes about 30 MB!!! WTF?! What's going on? 30 MB spent on simply geometry, some diffuses? I suspect that inside the data files there are lightmaps or ambient map occlusions. What may take so much space? I am suprised that despite the occupied space, the idea of the demo is very simple, very normal, and primitive like the models - there is no technical touch-up. Why didn't the Bypass/Black Maiden coders write just soft-shadow/-stencils? Is it really so hard to do this? It is obvious that moving objects don't drop shadows on the surface. It's a pity because it could have been a great diversity. I think that's enough about the defects. Time for advantages :)
The music is very cool - yes, I like it very much (I am listening to it using Winamp). It is not "climatic" (because the demo has no climax), but it somehow protects us from falling asleep. In my opinion it's quite nice, juicy sounds. I also like the mask put on the picture. For example - how much can make just a simple gradient, nice modification. And that's everything about the good sides of this demo :]
In sum, in my opinion "Monorail" has got more bad than good things. I don't like the same concept made again, like rewarmed chop. I expected from Bypass much, much more, because in the past they made productions that fulfilled high expectations ("Kardiogramm"). I am very disappointed and I think that they are out of concepts. I hope this is a temporary crisis and they will kick some asses soon.
I could attempt to make a culinary comparison - it smells like chop, looks like chop (Bypass sign), tastes like slops. With those mighty words I would like to end the article about this production. I supplement - this demo took 4TH PLACE!!! It ranked higher than "Moonstone" by Anadune & Nah Kolor. I am shocked! Thanks for your attention...
Wie8/Asenses