Genetic Dreams

Genetic Dreams was a PC diskmag by the German group Escape. Previously they had been making a diskmag with the same name for the C64. At scene.org you can download all the PC issues. Issue 4 got downloaded about 400 times, the other issues only around 60 times each. Issues 1 and 2 work with DOSBox, issue 4 only works without DOSBox, and issue 3 doesn't work at all (at least on my PC).

Genetic Dreams #1

Genetic Dreams #1 was released in September 1994. The menu and the articles weren't separated. In the left part of the screen, the current text was displayed. On the right, the name of the current "chapter" (a term from the C64 scene) and a picture of its author were displayed. You could flip pages with cursor up/down and move to the previous/next article with cursor left/right. There were scene news, business news, a BBS list, a games review section and a list of new demos. The only real article was a text about "101 ways to commit suicide", which was supposed to be funny. The font in Genetic Dreams #1 was quite hard to read, that's bad. The contents were not too interesting, either.

Genetic Dreams #2

Genetic Dreams #2 from February 1995 started with an intro (a simple scrolltext). In the new engine the menu and the texts were separated. There were the usual columns (e.g. news and BBS list), a coding corner about using up to four gigabytes of memory, loading PCX and LBM files and the plasma effect. Moreover, there were some articles about Windows 95, techno music and von Gravenreuth. The controls were not too user-friendly: The whole mag was controlled by the mouse, but instead of being able to move the cursor freely around the full screen, you moved a box that selected the buttons. You had to make very precise movements to control the magazine correctly. That sucked. The font was as illegible as in the previous issue. A nice thing was that the engine permitted the inclusion of inline images.

Genetic Dreams #4

The last issue of Genetic Dreams was released in December 1995. Again it featured texts on games and the demoscene. There were a Super VGA coding tutorial, an article about mailswapping, reports about the GASP party and Compu95, texts about soundcards, vectors and a section called "Phunny Things" with jokes about blondes and other things. All in all Genetic Dreams #4 was better than the previous issues.

Adok/Hugi