Chromance

Chromance (1990-, http://c64.rulez.org/chromance)
HUN&gt; Alex (Szabo Sandor, code crack edit, 90-01/95), Griff (music, 02/91-    12/97), Homeboy (modem, 09/94-01/95), Jaydee (crack fixer, 09/95-     12/97), Jazzy D (Kis Peter, crack swap modem, new 01/91-01/96), Painkiller (crack, 02/91-01/95), Pete (gfx, also in Onslaught,    09/95-12/97), Stake (Istvan Pallai, mainorg1 crack supply modem,     09/94-01/95), Will (01/95-01/96). HOL&gt; Syco (Joost Martens, crack swap, 12/94-12/97), Zar (code crack, ex    Proxyon, 12/94-12/97). GER&gt; Chotaire (sysop PIRATE ISLAND, later in Alpha Flight 1970, 12/94-    01/95), Jinx (code crack phreak modem, 09/94-01/95), Rough (modem,     12/94-01/96), Skud (gfx, 01/96-12/97), X-Radical (crack fixer supply     trade, 09/94-09/95). POL&gt; AMC (Adam Zelent, swap supply, ex Charged, new 09/94-12/97), Bolee (09/95-12/97), Hedgehog (01/96-12/97), Techno (crack swap, ex SCS-TRC,    new 09/95-12/97), Vector (12/97), Wozio (Mariusz Wosko, swap supply     sysop COUNTRY JAIL, also in Elysium, 09/94-12/97). SWE&gt; Motion (Jimmy Wiklund, swap trade, ex Noice, 09/95-01/96). GRE&gt; Alias Medron (gfx, new 11/95-12/97). USA&gt; Rug Rat (sysop EDGE OF MIDNIGHT, also in Aristocracy, 09/94-01/96), Scratcher (sysop THE BASS PLANET WHQ, new 01/96-12/97). ???&gt; Fusion (01/96), Immortal (09/95-12/97), Janee (09/95-01/96), Lotus (01/96-12/97), Mephisto (12/97), McByte (01/96), Sage (01/96-12/97), XXL (01/96-12/97), Zeyex (01/96-12/97).

Boards; GANGSTAS PARADISE FTP (hun), OVERDOSE (pol, 01/96).

PREVIOUS MEMBERS (pre 01/95) -

PREVIOUS MEMBERS -

HUN&gt; Cop (swap, also in Faces, new 09/93-09/94), Ollie (code crack gfx, ex    Pride, new early93). HOL&gt; LCF (code crack supply, 12/94), Splatterhead (Rene Janssen, mainorg2    supply swap, 09-12/94). GER&gt; Dr.Disc (swap, early91), Gizmo (Joerg, ex Solution, new 03/91), Icarus (swap, new 06/93). USA&gt; Catalyst (sysop CATASTROPHIC FAILURE, 02/93), Destiny (sysop BLACK    GENESIS WHQ, 92), Unholy (modem, 04/94-01/96). ???&gt; Alagami (new 05/93), Chum (ex Chaos#1 [no entry], new early91-04/94), Floris (gfx, 12/93), Herman (ex Teen/Chaos, new 01/91), Hermit (ex    Dr.Disk/Hitmen, new 01/91), Sangfroid (gfx, 02/91), Scatman (swap, old     handle Zag, 09/95), Skull (09/95-01/96), Szab (09/94).

Boards; INFECTIOUS (usa, 05/92), PHIBERCOM (usa), CHAOTIC FACTOR (usa).

Chromance was a Hungarian-based international cracking group (with the occassional demo production), born in july of 1990 by the best members of FBI-Crew. Canadian sysop Deviant (FINAL GENOCIDE, 01/96-12/97) is nowadays in the pc scene, while Hungarian cracker, swapper and supplier Mr.Wax (Balazs Bernat, member since 1991!) spends his days in the mp3 scene. They produced the papermag "Gridpoint Observer", as well as the cracking-focused diskmag "Are We The Best?". 1990 - Painkiller was accused by Local Lamer/Bad Taste in Amok's "Sex'n'Crime #21" [12/90] of recracking their version of "Sensitive". 1991 - January saw the joining of Hermit (ex Dr.Disk/Hitmen), Herman (ex Teen/Chaos) and swapper Jazzy-D. There were widespread rumours that the group entered into a cooperation with The Bombs this month, which is a misunderstanding; there was never any coop. Some of their members were also busted by the Hungarian post for cheating with stamps this month. Gizmo joined from Solution in march. Still early in the year, the group saw the departure of Gabriel (gfx), the arrival of Chum/Chaos#1, Suicide leaving the scene, and later rejoining it as a member of Avantgarde. 1993 - Dishy joined Dominators early this year. Mr.Wax stopped producing "Are We The Best?' early this year, and went out in other diskmags looking for someone to take it over. Swapper TBB joined from Arcade early in the year, but soon moved on and was in Red Sector Inc. by october. Alagami joined in may. German swapper Icarus joined around july. Cop joined from Faces as his second group in september. 1994 - American sysop Ancient Mariner (THE EVIL ISLAND) rejoined his old group Alpha Flight 1970 in september, after joining around the middle of the year. They also lost and then regained Rug Rat (EDGE OF MIDNIGHT), though now in cooperation with Aristocracy, and gained polish swapper and supplier AMC from Charged this month. Other events in september included Wozio leaving for his army duty, joining the already active Jazzy-D.  1995 - Polish coder Druid/Agony left the group around january, and instead joined F4CG as his second group. X-Radical was busted by the post and police for sending hashish to one of his contacts, also around january. American cracker Fungus joined this year, but left soon after for F4CG. Cracker and swapper Blaze joined for a brief period from Xenon, before moving on to Alpha Flight 1970 around september. Their swapper Zag renamed to Scatman. Three new members joined; Techno/SCS-TRC (crack swap), Pete/ Onslaught joined as a doublemember, and finally Motion - previously of Noice - joined as a swapper and trader. Some members also decided to leave; Stake and Homeboy, who will be staying in Onslaught only, and took with him swedish Joyride (sysop HIGHWAY, 93-) for the ride. When Wozio returned from his army duty in october, he intends to open a board called COUNT(R)Y JAIL and resume his swapping activities. Mr.Wax and Jazzy D are also said to be fully back in action. Artists Alias Medron, Moose and T.L. joined late this year, as did Spermbird/Excess - with this as his second group. 1996 - Around january the group recruited american sysop Scratcher (BASS PLANET) and polish Hedgehog. 1997 - In november-december they expanded their cooperation with Hungarian demo group Resource, and the two groups now share the internet server c64.rulez.org, where also their popular ftp site GANGSTA'S PARADISE is now hosted. Sphere was kicked out due to inactivity. 1999 - Spermbird (swap, also in Excess, 09/95-) left for Laxity. 2000 - Longtime Hungarian coder, fixer and siteop Lion (09/94-) left for Kempelen.

Are We The Best? #1 (1991, early, Diskmag). INT - code: Alex, gfx: Gabriel, music: Griff. MAG - code: Alex, gfx: Alex (1x1 chars), Sangfroid (big chars), music: Griff, editors: Mr.Wax, Gabriel, Alex. review: AWTB is a mini-mag, focusing on the cracker scene, but fails to surpass its big brother, Triad's "Gamers Guide". The mag is laid out in a pretty simple manner, with a down/up scrolling text display, controlled via the joystick, and a mag logo in greyscale at the top of the screen. The ever-popular flashing text phenomenon is overkilled here. Editorially, this is pretty much what you'd expect frm a mag with this focus; it looks a lot like Gamers Guide, with the main bulk of the text dedicated to comparing versions of recently released cracks. The entire mag comes in a single 79-block file. The release date is approximate, and is more of an educated guess than anything else... :) Most of the covered games do seem to have been released around february, so an early march release is not a  bad guess, I believe.    Games covered this issue are; Breathalyzer (4 versions), Cavemania (6 versions), Chips Challenge (3 versions), CJ's Elephant Antics (3 versions), Combat Zone (3 versions), Deri Colours (6 versions), Diplomacy (3 versions), Exterminator (5 versions), Future Edition - Turn It 2 (1 version), Hunt For Red October 2 (2 versions), Loopz (3 versions), Quick Draw McGraw (2 versions), Soccer Challenge (4 versions), Stuemp (3 versions), Supercars (7 versions), Tanks (4 versions) and Tough Guys (7 versions). [glenn]

Are We The Best? #2 (1991, .04?, Diskmag). INT - code: Alex, gfx: Gabriel, music: Griff. MAG - code: Alex, gfx: Alex (1x1 chars), Sangfroid (big chars), music: Griff, editor: Mr.Wax. review: The intro is the same as the first issue, as is the mag code. They mention their similarities to the Gamers Guide now, but claim they had the IDEA first. Anyway, not a lot has changed since the last issue, the focus is still firmly on comparing different versions of cracks, with a few bits and pieces of news and other cracking-related information thrown in. As with the first issue, there is no indication of a release date, but another educated guess would be that it is at least still early 1991 - sometime in april is my guess, mostly based on the mention of events that occured at the "Horizon Party", which took place from the 29th of march to the 1st of april. The entire mag is a single 84 block file. Games covered this issue are; Breathalyzer (5 versions), Cavemania (11 versions), Chips Challenge (13 versions), CJ's Elephant Antics (4  versions), Deri Colours (13 versions), Diplomacy (6 versions), Eskimo Games (5 versions), Firepit (7 versions), Gremlins 2 (7 versions), Hazar (14 versions), Hunt For Red October II (5 versions), Last Ninja 3 (3 versions), Lotus Esprit (4 versions), Madsprings (15 versions), Mighty Bombjack (6 versions), Oilmania (11 versions), Pureseed (5 versions), Quick Draw McGraw (6 versions), Silkworm IV (3 versions), Soccer Challenge (5 versions), Supercars (16 versions), Super Monaco GP (4 versions), Tanks (10 versions), Turn'n Burn (3 versions), Turrican II (9 versions), Vincent (6 versions) and finally Warlock (10 versions). There are a few minor screw-ups, that the editor should really have weeded out, but nothing too major. For example, spelling Exulans/Dunex' handle wrong, and in the info for Chips Challenge - what Hitmen version? [glenn]

Shining Chrome (Demo). info: Late 91 or early 92.

Hammering 94 Official Party Invitation (1994, early, File). code: Jean/Absolute, gfx: n/a, music: Griff. review: This is probably the most simplistic party invitation I've ever seen ;) It's based on a noter by a member of Faces, then improved by Jean, and...well, it's pretty bareboned! :) This is a Chromance release only because there is no c64 Absolute section, because Griff did the music, and because it says 'spread by Chromance'. [glenn]