Antic

Antic (1989-, http://www.awesume.se/scene/)
SWE> Bagsy (Magnus Lindberg, code swap, early91), Baltzar, Creeper (Kim    Nordström, gfx, ex Flash Inc., new 05-12/93), Depeh (Goran Johansson,     code swap editor, 06/90-09/93), Incubus (Robin Forsberg, swap write,     02/92), Jason (Ulf Andersson, crack swap sysop, 89-91), Joe (gfx, later     Wrath Designs, 08-12/93), Jordan (Micke Johansson, code sysop 'SUBWAY',     also in Flash Inc, 02/93), Probe (Rahel Azad, code crack), Sky (code,     ex Virus, new 07/90), Star (Ulf Hagström, gfx swap write), Trash (code), Twix (ex Virus, new 07/90), Ufo (ex Zyrox, new 06/90), Xor (Daniel Färnkvist, org trade writer, 06/90), Zealot (gfx, 07/90), Zyron (Johan Åstrand, code music swap, also in Swemix and The Remembers,    08/93-12/94). GER> Andre (also in Oxyron, early93). ???> Eliz (ex Gothic Design, new early93), Jakob (music, new 06/90), Trash (new 03/91).

Antic is a demo group based in Sweden, formed by Jason, Spirou/Zyrox, Xor (Spirou's neighbour) and a few others in 1989. Baltzar was Jason's brother. 1990 - After recruiting the group The Mob, Explorer became an Antic mag, and "Explorer #2" [06/90] was released in june. The Mob then ceased to be a group in its own right entirely, and all members became full Antic members. The demo "Ethic" was released, followed by "Explorer #3" [07/90], which announced that there were now 12 members in the group. Before the release of "Explorer #4" [08/90], The Lord/Cicen and Bom tried to form a new group with Twix/Virus. This didn't work out, and consequently The Lord joined Impact, Twix joined Antic and Bom remains groupless. Additionally, also Sky (code) joined from Virus. 1991 - Trash joined in march. Swedish swapper Jason left the group th do his military service in august. 1992 - Swedish organizer and cracker Spirou left for Fairlight. 1993 - Swedish swapper Incubus joined Triad early 93. Swedish top graphician Creeper joined from Flash Inc. in may. Depeh was busted for stamp faking around june, but will not stop swapping. Zyron's "Music- Collection #17" [08/93] was released in august, and within Zyron told the world that he was only two months removed from his 8-month army service. He did however manage to push out the first issue of his new music collection series before he left; "Opera Omnia #1" [09/93].

Explorer #2 (1990, 10.06, Filemag). INT - code/gfx: Depeh, music: TGD/Royalty. MAG - code: Depeh, gfx: Rainman/Royalty (logo), Depeh (char), music: TGD/ Royalty, editor: Depeh (main), Bom, P-Jay/Royalty, Xor. review: This is the second issue of Explorer, and the first to be released under the label of Antic. The first issue was under the label of The Mob, and this one also is... kind of. Since last time, The Mob has become a subdivision of Antic, their 'magdivision', as they write inside. This means all previous members of The Mob are now also in Antic, and all subsequent issues are to be considered Antic releases. Ok, with that cleared up, we can start reviewing the mag then! After the intro, which is exactly like the one from the first issue (except for the music), we enter a mag that has undergone quite a few changes for the better since last time. First of all, there are now twice as many lines of text on each page, which is a big improvement. A new EXPLORER logo graces the top of the screen, and all sections of the mag also have their own sprites, displayed underneath the text while you read. Editorially the mag has also clearly improved, with a lot better material than last time. There are still some unecessary filler, like the 'interview with a lamer' (the interview with Jedi would have been interesting; this is not) and most of Bom's Corner. The control method is the same space or joy method as last time. I'd say this mag has matured greatly since the first issue in pretty much all aspects, and once they get a regular flow of interesting articles it's got potential to be among the better ones. It's still very much a mag for the swedish scene though, with little or no news from the rest of the world. The mag comes in a single 94 block file. [glenn]

Explorer #3 (1990, .07, Filemag). INT - code: Depeh, gfx: Depeh, ???/Cosmos Designs (1x1 font), music: Drax/Vibrants. MAG - code: Depeh, gfx: Rainman/Royalty (logo), music: Link/Vibrants, editors: Depeh (main), Bom, Spirou, Ufo. review: More changes came with issue 3 of Explorer. Not only was the mag graced with a new intro, now that The Mob had ceased to be a group in its own right, but the magcode had also evolved - with even more changes promised for the next issue. It had now progressed to a point where it was quite good, in just three issues. Not many interesting articles were published this time either unfortunately, mostly news - but good signs were showing in that the content was gaining a more international flavour. The mag says in the intro it was released "week 29", which is roughly the end of july, isn't it? The release announces the joining of Ufo/Zyrox and Jakob. The mag comes in a single 91 block file. [glenn]

Explorer #4 (1990, .08, Filemag). INT - code: Depeh, gfx: Depeh, ???/Cosmos Designs (1x1 font), music: Drax/Vibrants. MAG - code/gfx: Depeh, music: Drax/Vibrants, editors: Depeh (main), Jason, Xor, Spirou. review: The intro from the last issue is recycled here, and the credits remain the same. The mag itself, though, has undergone even more transformations since the last issue. The screeen is now split in three, so to speak. The bottom half is occupied by the text, which now looks a lot like reading an issue of Mamba - except thankfully there are no  'amusing' animations within the text. The top half though is vertically split in the middle, where the left half has the article selector and the right part has a red Explorer logo moving left to right and back again... repeatedly =) It's not the most beautiful mag design in the world, but it works.    This issue announces Bom's leaving the group, as well as Twix and Sky  joining. The mag comes in a single 90 block file. [glenn]

Up The Limits (1991, 01.04). Released at the Horizon Easter Party.

Beyond Imagination (1991, 02.11, Demo). Released at the Jam Party.

Lunacy V (1992, 19.04, Demo). 3rd in the Easter Conference 92 demo competition.

Lunacy 7 (1993, 30.05, Demo). 3rd in The Computer Crossroads 93 demo competition.

Music-Collection #17 (1993, 18.08, Filemusic). code/music: Zyron, gfx: Joe. review: Another collection of 10 tunes from Zyron, plus the one in the intro. Yes, the intro. Visually, this is the best part of this collection, with an actual logo from Joe and a nicely unusual font for the title. I also like the tune, so thumbs up all round for the intro. The collection itself, where you get to choose the tunes, save them to disk, fastforward or even show how much rastertime they occupy, is a lot more drab. It's actually just slightly better than a text-only display, with a real ugly 2x2 font by an unknown artist chosen for a scroller and a title. Those tunes in full then, "The Gnome" (intro), "Mars Mission", "Meatballs", "Rain Forrest" (sic), "Lucky Strike", "Hallucinations", "Studioline!", "Calm Surface", "Potato Chips", "Colored Shape" and finally "Burning Candles". Actually, the tune "Calm Surface" contains a bug that manifests itself only on newer sids. A corrected version of this tune is included with an accompanying note, detailing the problem. The intro scroller in this collection announces it's the last one to be released under this name. Subsequent collections will bear the name "Opera Omnia", and the first edition of that series was released the following month. [glenn]

Opera Omnia (1993, .09, Filemusic). code/music: Zyron, gfx: Joe. review: "OO" is a music collection, comprising 10 pieces of music from workaholic musician Zyron. The show opens with a simple yet effective intro sequence, highlighted by a good fullscreen OO title picture by Joe. The main part has an OO logo at the top of the screen, with the rest occupied by the list of songs. Features of the player includes the ability to turn on/off any of the three voices, fast forward, as well as the innovative feature of pressing RUN/STOP to save the current song to disk! The featured music pieces are "Funk-A-Duck", "The Quad", "Black Dreams", "Cottage Cheese", "Aching!", "Understand Me", "Tic-Tac-Toe", "Cotton Brain", "An Own Moon" and "Flesh & Blood". The music for the intro sequence is called "Shorted Hallucinations". No release date is mentioned anywhere in this production, what stands above is based on research. All the songs are dated (in memory), and they were all made in august and september 93 - the last one dated 11th september. What sticks in your mind after viewing this is unfortunately not Zyron's music - what it's SUPPOSED to showcase - but more Joe's good graphics. Nice but not essential. [glenn]

Beyond Imagination 2 (1993, 28.12, Demo). Split 8th in The Party 93 demo competition.

Lunacy 6 - The Lost Sequel (1994, 06.08, Demo). Released for the Assembly 94 demo competition, but unplaced.

Dein Zycrex (1994, 28.12, Demo). 4th in The Party 94 demo competition.

Retroactive (1995, 28.12, Demo). code: Depeh, gfx: Creeper, music: Zyron. 6th in The Party 95 demo competition.