HI EVERYONE, OVERLANDERS SHAMEFULLY PRESENT YOU 'PONG': FAKE CRACKED, TRAINED AND FILED ON MARCH 14TH, 2025. CREDITS: CODE BY RATI AND JANEK, GRAPHICS BY MIC/DUNE AND MUSIC BY DOCLANDS. NOWADAY'S LIFE LEAVES US WITH VERY LIMITED TIME TO ALLOCATE TO OUR PLATFORM OF LOVE. SO, WE WANT TO THANK TOM FOR THIS VERY CLEVER IDEA OF MAKING A FAKE CRACKTRO. LET'S SALUTE GREAT CRACKTRO MAKERS OF THE OLD DAYS: , TSUNOO RHILTY, RATBOY, DOM, FURY, KRUEGER, TDS, -ME-, RANK XEROX, MAXI, OXBAB, AN COOL AND NIC. YOU WERE THE REASON WHY WE LAUNCHED GAMES AT THE TIME. A FEW GREETS TO CLOSE FRIENDS: UNLIMITED MATRICKS, LEGACY, DUNE, SECTOR ONE, OXYGENE, MR STYCKX, VRETROCOMPUTING, FENARINARSA, REPLICANTS, M-CODER AND SAMSOFT. SPECIAL HI TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE UNION AND OF THE BLADE RUNNERS. FINALLY, HELLO TO THOSE WHO KEEP THE ST DEMOSCENE ALIVE : DHS, SMFX, NEWLINE, SYNC, MYSTIC BYTES, HEMOROIDS, AVENA, OMEGA, NOEXTRA, EXTREAM, DEKADENCE, ACID TEAM, NOEXTRA, BITBENDAZ, EPHIDRENA, CREAM, PHF, PARADOX, D-BUG, MEGABUSTERS, FLUSH, MEUH, BAKI AND MIKRO AND SEDMA, EFFECT, DEFENCE FORCE. YOU ROCK THE HOUSE GUYS. TO YQN: YOUR TUNE GOT ME IN TEARS. THANK YOU MAN. RATI OUT. HI ST MANIACS! DOCLANDS HERE (FUN FACT: THIS PSEUDO WAS CHOSEN IN REFERENCE TO JEAN-MICHEL JARRE'S DOCKLANDS CONCERT - BUT WITH A TYPO! ) AFTER AN ABSENCE OF WELL OVER 33 YEARS, I'M TAKING UP THE KEYBOARD TO GIVE A BIT OF MATERIAL TO THOSE WHO READ THE SCROLL-TEXTS (WHICH I RESPECT JUST AS MUCH AS THOSE WHO READ THROUGH THE CREDITS AT THE END OF THE MOVIES!). WELL, THIS LITTLE CRACKTRO CODED BY RATI AND JANEK DOES SOME GOOD: I'D SAY IT'S REFRESHING (AND THE EMBEDDED CRACKED GAME JUST ROCKS!). 3 YEARS AGO, WHEN I'VE WATCHED THE FIRST LOVE DEMO, I WAS AMAZED THAT SOME PEOPLE WERE STILL PAYING ATTENTION TO THE WORLD OF OLD MICROCOMPUTERS. WHAT A SURPRISE TO SEE THAT, BEYOND THE DEMO VIDEOS AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE, SOME PEOPLE ARE STILL CODING ON THE MACHINES OF OUR YOUTH (AND SOME DID CREATE JUST FANTASTIC EMULATORS LIKE HATARI OR ZEST - A FPGA ONE !!). ALSO, WHAT A DELIGHT IT IS TO LISTEN AGAIN TO THE MUSIC OF YESTERYEAR, IN OLD YM STYLE, WITH SID VOICES SOMETIMES OR EVEN DIGIDRUMS (JESS, YOU'RE MY HERO). NOTE THAT FOR THE MUSIC (CALLED 'IN A BIND') YOU'RE CURRENTLY LISTENING TO, I STUCK TO OLD YM STYLE AND USED ARKOS-TRACKER TOOL, CREATED BY TARGHAN (AVAILABLE ON WINDOWS, MACOS AND LINUX). THIS MADE ME REALIZE THAT THE CPC AND MSX COMMUNITY IS STILL VERY ACTIVE. IMAGINE: THESE 8 BITS MACHINES ARE EVEN ABLE TO PLAY YM TUNES WITH 9 CHANNELS (WITH SOME HW ADDON, OK)! JUST FOR THE LOVE OF THE YM SOUND!!! A BIT OF HISTORY... BACK IN THE OLD DAYS, AROUND 1988, MY BROTHER (ADSO) AND I MET RATI AND JANEK AT A COMPUTER SHOW IN PARIS, FRANCE. WE WERE AMAZED BY THE USE OF THE ATARI ST HIGH AND LOW SCREEN BORDERS, SHOWED IN SOME DEMOS (BTW, THESE BORDERS ARE ALSO USED IN THE DEMO YOU'RE WATCHING - A NICE TOUCH!). WE BROUGHT THEM AT OUR PLACE WHERE THEY SHOWED US HOW TO DO. THEY ALSO INTRODUCED US TO THE OVERLANDERS GROUP, THEN MOSTLY MADE UP OF GAME-CRACKERS. BUT THE DEMO CODERS WERE STARTING TO TAKE OVER IN THE GROUP, THANKS TO MR BEE, DIM AND ZIGGY, AMONG OTHERS. I REMEMBER SPENDING EVERY SATURDAY CHATTING WITH ZIGGY ABOUT HIS 3D ROUTINES, HIS FULLSCREENS TRICKS AND IDEAS TO USE THEM. ONE DAY, ZIGGY WANTED TO DEVELOP A YM2149 PLAYER. HIS WORK ALLOWED ME TO CREATE SOME MUSIC (WHERE EACH TRACK WAS REPRESENTED BY A LINE OF DC.B, WITH A PITCH AND DURATION FOR EACH NOTE, JUST SEPARATED BY COMMAS: IT WAS A FAR FROM THE TRACKER-LIKE MODE THAT BEN AND JESS'S PLAYER WOULD USE, LATER ON). BUT ZIGGY WAS A FORERUNNER AND HE MADE POSSIBLE TO USE THE BUZZER-LIKE SOUNDS LEVERAGED IN THE HAUNTING PLASMA-SCREEN MUSIC, CODED BY DIM, FOR THE PENDRAGONS' LIGHTNING DEMO (CLEVER DUDES, YEP!!) - I'LL REVAMP THIS MUSIC ONE DAY, IN A BETTER WAY, SINCE IT LACKS A TRUE BREAK ... ALSO, NOTICE THAT ZIGGY'S PLAYER WAS ONE OF THE VERY FIRST TO BE ABLE TO EMULATE C64 SID VOICES ON ATARI ST. JUST SPLENDID. BUT I HAD TO MOVE ON TO BEN'S YM-TRACKER - IN TEXT MODE TOO - AND I DID COMPOSE TWO PIECES OF MUSIC, ON A DIFFERENT LEVEL TO THE PREVIOUS ONES, BUT NEVER USED IN DEMOS (CALLED FRENETIC AND ZOOMER PREVIEW - FOR THE RECORDS). AND THEN, THE HYPER-CREATIVE JESS TOOK OVER FOR THE OVERLANDERS, WITH A STRIKE FORCE THAT I ENVY HIM (HE'LL DISCOVER IT WHEN HE READS THESE LINES!): HIS MUSIC FOR THE FINAL CREDITS FOR FROGGIES OVER THE FENCE DEMO IS A VERITABLE ODE TO YM-SOUNDS AND THOSE TO COME. BUT NOW, I'M BACK!!! WELL, THAT'S IT FOR MY LITTLE TALK - SO, THANK YOU FOR READING SO FAR. FINALLY, I WOULD LIKE TO CELEBRATE THE COMPOSERS I LISTENED TO, SO MANY TIMES ON HEADPHONES BACK IN THE DAY: JEROEN TEL, ROB HUBBARD, GUNNAR GAUBATZ, DAVID WHITTAKER, JOCHEN THE HIPPEL (AND I'M FORGETTING MANY OTHERS, OF COURSE) - WHAT HOURS OF PLEASURE WITH SQUARE SOUNDS I HAD WITH THEIR CHIPTUNES!!! THANK YOU, GUYS... AND ALSO, WITH THEIR NEW PRODUCTIONS, I'D LIKE TO THANK: DMA-SC, JESS (WHO NEVER STOPS), 505 AND OF COURSE THE LATE MODMATE AND ULTRASYD, WHO WERE BOTH SO GOOD (AND THAT I ONLY RECENTLY DISCOVERED). A LAST THING: I'D LIKE TO ALSO THANK HIROSHI KAWAGUCHI FOR THE INCREDIBLE FM MUSICS HE DID CREATE FOR OUTRUN ARCADE GAME. THEY WILL FOR EVER RESONATE IN MY HEAD!! SO, MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU GUYS. SEE IN A NEXT VENTURE. HEY GUYS, MIC FROM DUNE ON THE KEYBOARD. FIRST OF ALL, HATS OFF TO ALL OF YOU WHO MADE IT SO FAR INTO READING THIS SCROLLTEXT. I WILL TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SEND A FEW GOLDEN REGARDS TO THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE. A BIG HELLO TO ALL MEMBERS OF DUNE: AATEC, ALRIK, CASPER, CHUCK, CIRCEE, CORBEAU, CORTEXX, DAN, EVIL METAL, EXTREM, FAHRENHEIT, FELIX, FLOOPY, JADE, MECHANOID, MEERCLAW, MEPHISTOW, MORTON, OBI-WAN, SCORPIO, TECHNO, TERENCE, THADOSS. LET'S CONTINUE WITH A FEW MORE INDIVIDUALS, SHALL WE? HI TO: BABAR, DMA-SC, ST-GHOST, ZERKMAN, MON, LEONARD, MARCO BREDDIN, TANIS AND OF COURSE ETERNAL SALUTES TO ALL THE VALIANT PIXEL PUSHERS ON THE GOOD OLD ST. LET ME GIVE YOU A FEW NOTES ABOUT THE ART IN THIS INTRO: THERE'S A LOT HAPPENING ON SCREEN, SO MY TAKE ON THIS WAS TO PRIORITISE THE ANIMATED ELEMENTS. THAT'S WHY I WENT WITH THIS VERY SYMMETRICAL AND GEOMETRICAL PICTURE WHICH, WHILE STILL BEING THERE, DOESN'T GET TOO OVERWHELMING AND CREATES A NICE CONTRAST WITH THE SMOOTHLY ANIMATED CURVES. I ALSO WENT FOR A SIMPLE COMPLEMENTARY COLOR SCHEME (COLD/WARM) THAT HELPS READABILITY. THAT SAID, I TOOK SOME LIBERTY WITH THE LOGO WHICH STANDS OUT WITH ITS VERY CURVY AND ENERGETIC STYLE BUT, IN MY MIND, THIS FITS THE BILL OF THE TYPICAL DEMO OF THE OLD DAYS WHERE YOU WOULD MISMATCH A BIT THINGS (BUT NOT ON PURPOSE LIKE HERE OBVIOUSLY). AND OF COURSE, WE HAVE THROWN A FEW RASTERSPLITS IN THE MIX TO STILL KEEP THINGS COLORFUL, AS YOU WOULD ALSO EXPECT FROM SOMETHING OLDSCHOOL INSPIRED. ANYWAY, YOU HAVE ALREADY REACHED THE END OF MY RAMBLING, TAKE CARE AND SEE YOU IN SOME OTHER PROD OR EVEN GAME, WHO KNOWS? JESS AT THE KEYS. LIFE IS A BITCH. LIKE MANY ATARI ST DEMOSCENERS, I WAS RECENTLY DEVASTATED TO HEAR OF TORSTEN'S (MODMATE) PASSING. I WAS STUNNED, UNAWARE HE WAS FIGHTING CANCER'S CRUEL INJUSTICE. IN 2024, TORSTEN CONTACTED ME, SURPRISING AND HUMBLING ME WITH MIDDLE-EARTH DECONSTRUCTED AND JESSFLUENCA. OUR BRIEF EMAILS REFLECTED OUR DEEP MUTUAL RESPECT. I GREATLY ADMIRED THE AMAZING CHIPTUNE ARTIST HE'D BECOME AND TOLD HIM HE WAS CRUSHING IT. TORSTEN WAS A POLY ARTIST, A FAST LEARNER, AN EXTREMELY TALENTED PERSON. I ONLY KNEW HIM THROUGH HIS JAW-DROPPING PRODUCTIONS, AND I'M SURE THE WORLD OF CREATIVE PEOPLE WILL MISS HIM AS I WILL. THE DEMOSCENE MIGHT BE OUR BEST WAY OF CELEBRATING OUR PEERS WHO LEFT THAT REALM. AND I'M PROUD THE OVERLANDERS DECIDED TO DEDICATE THAT EXQUISITE PONGTRO TO MODMATE. I'M ALSO MORE THAN THRILLED TO SEE THE GREAT COMING BACK OF DOCLANDS WHO FINALLY LET HIMSELF DROWN AGAIN IN THE CHIPTUNE OCEAN. THAT'S ABOUT TIME BUDDY! ALSO THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND WORDS ;) BUT I AM THE ONE WHO OWE YOU AN ETERNAL DEBT: I'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER THE DAY YOU KNOCKED AT MY PLACE AND MET YOU FOR THE FIRST TIME. THAT WAS MY REAL FIRST JOB INTERVIEW IN MY LIFE, THE ONLY THAT MATTERED, TO GET TO JOIN THE MIGHTY OVR CREW. MY LIFE CHANGED FOREVER SINCE THEN. THAT SAID, I'M GLAD YOU'RE TAKING UP THE TORCH BACK, I WAS STARTING TO CRAMP UP :) MIC, RATI, JANEK, DOCLANDS, YOU ROCK AS USUAL! CHEERS Y'ALL. THE FINAL WORDS BELONG TO ME (JANEK). WAZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAA. I HOPE YOU DIDN'T DESTROY YOUR EYES READING THIS VERY LONG SCROLLTEXT. THAT'S NOT HUMAN. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? I'VE GOT ONLY ONE DUTY: WRAPPING THIS UP. SO SEE YOU IN OUR NEXT PRODUCTION GUYS. AS RATI SAID TO MODMATE ONCE: . AND THAT'S A WRAP!