News/2001

2001-12-24
All entries are in for the Intro Logo Competition and are being judged. The results will not be available until after xmas.

Many updates have occured in the last month, although I did not had time to update this news. Sorry.

Updated ExoticA's mirror of the High Voltage SID Collection. This brings it to version 4.4. The collection now contains 17,730 C64 tunes. ExoticA offers the music individually via a simple to use HTML Interface or you can download them all in one large GZIP'd TAR Archive - HVSC.tar.gz. To see whats new you can check out the e-mail announcement text - update29.txt. For more in depth changes, you can refer to the update logs in the DOCUMENTS/ Directory.

UnExoticA has had 12 updates in the last month, which brings the archive to 4575 files packed into 915 archives. That's 267 megs of great music! For more details please read the UnExoticA - Updates Page.

Update to the Demo Scene Reference Manual. Current version is now 4.11. Since the last release on ExoticA (4.07) many changes have taken place, including additions/changes to Errors, Cytax, AlphaFlight, Share And Enjoy, Titanics, Obelisk, Push, 3 Amigos, Extreme, Cryptic, Triumph, Maniacs of Noise, Axis, Casyopea, Resistance, Triad, CNCD, Rubicon, Trackers, Rednex, Damian, VoxDei, Miracle, Pleasure, Powerlords, Polaris, Vicious, Triumph, Ghostriders, Cyborg, Power System, Axxis, Sod, Tardex, Robotech and United Forces.

Also updated the Compilation Disk Reference Manual to version 1.18.

I wish you all a Merry Xmas, and a Happy New Year! :)

2001-11-22
Yesterday UnExoticA was again updated. New additions include the music from Pac-Land, P.P.Hammer, Toki, Cannon Fodder, Mr. Nutz, Pegasus and many others. For full information about the changes you can read the UnExoticA - Updates Page.

2001-11-15
Another update to UnExoticA. The update includes the music from the following games: The Amazing Spider-Man, Astate, Bally II, Crime Does Not Pay, The Punisher, Super Cauldron, Tetrix, Thunder Jaws, Whizz and Yogi's Great Escape.

For more detailed information on additions please read the UnExoticA - Updates Page.

2001-11-13
Today was the deadline for the ExoticA Intro Logo Competition. However, I have decided to extend it to the end of the month so that people have more time to get their entries in. The deadline will now be the 30th November. I will not alter this date (Promise!) :)

There is no limit to the number of entries per person so draw as many as you like :) There will also most likely be a prize for the 2nd/3rd place logos, but it depends the kind of response I get for the competition. Although there are no rules regarding the design of the logo (Apart from the 600 pixel width limit), logos incorporating an Amiga related theme will probably go down well with the judge :) UnExoticA - The definitive Amiga Game Music collection has had a couple of updates in the last week. It now contains 3693 files packed into 722 archives - over 224 megabytes of music!. Read the Updates Page for information about all recent changes and additions.

Update to the Demo Scene Reference Manual. Current version is now 4.07. Since the last update many changes have taken place, including more modules listed, corrections to demo entries and demo additions.

The Formats Page has recently had an update with some author email address additions and a discussion with Branko Mikic about the history of Synthesis, InStereo and Sonic Arranger. For more details you can read the changelog.txt.

Moved Yon's Intro Logo to the Intro Logo Gallery.

2001-11-07
Another update at the UnExoticA Game Music area. You can see the changes in detail on the UnExoticA Updates Page.

2001-11-06
In the last hours I have received a few fantastic logos for the ExoticA Intro Page, and after a few comments from the contributors, I have decided the best thing to do is to hold a little competition! It's a quick fire compo, so you will not get much time.

Those who wish to enter can submit their logo to me at buzz[at]exotica.org.uk. Last date for entries will be in just 1 week from today - thats the 13th (Lucky for some) of November!

Entries should all fit nicely on the Intro Page, being no more than 600 pixels wide and supplied in lossless PNG format. The logos will be judged by the veteran of all ExoticA logo's XtC (However, should he decide to contribute a logo himself I will choose another person). It's not well organised, the rules are not strict, it's basically for fun! But, there is a prize!.

The prize is (Wait for it!). A Custom! ExoticA T-shirt, displaying the ExoticA logo on the front in the Ocean Style (See the Intro Logo Gallery). Not only this, but the back of the T-shirt is signed by none other than Jeff Minter, Jason Page and Richard Joseph!.

It's not a big prize, but instead of keeping it for myself, I would rather give it to the people who have inspired me to work on this site!.

There are also No Losers!. Every logo will feature on the ExoticA Intro Logo Gallery and so long as they are in good taste, and are presentable, will also appear on the main Introduction Page. Good Luck!

2001-10-26
Since the release of UnExoticA a few days ago the archive has had 77 new game music rips added, bringing the total to 692! Huge thanks to XtC for all his hard work. Details about the new additions and changes can be found on the Updates area of UnExoticA.

2001-10-22
Big News: The new music area is now online!

UnExoticA - Under the Influence - The definitive Amiga Game Music collection.

This section provides complete unmodified rips with full credits for all Amiga game soundtracks regardless of format. Unlike other collections available elsewhere on the internet, UnExoticA's archive hasn't been defaced with rip credits, which often replace comments left by the original composer.

Huge thanks to all the people who have worked hard to make this section. Full credits for the area can be read on its Main Page. At the time of writing the area contains 3440 files packed into 615 archives. That's 269 different composers! Uncompressed there is currently 212 Megabytes of music!

2001-10-13
Updated ExoticA's mirror of the High Voltage SID Collection to version 4.3. The collection now contains 16,986 C64 tunes. ExoticA offers the music individually via a simple to use HTML Interface or you can download them all in one large GZIP'd TAR Archive - HVSC.tar.gz. To see whats new you can check out the e-mail announcement text - update28.txt. For more in depth changes, you can refer to the update logs in the DOCUMENTS/ Directory.

A fab new logo can now be found on the Intro Page of ExoticA. It was made by Yon/IRIS and is a very different style from other logos we have had previously. Huge thanks to Yon for taking the time to make this image and I hope you all enjoy it. If any other artists out there would like to have their work on the front page then please Mail Me for information.

2001-08-29
Another big update to the Demo Scene Reference Manual. This update brings it to version 4.00 (Release date 26.08.01). Additions and changes since the last release can be read at the bottom of the manual.

2001-07-31
Updated Scenery (Amiga and C64) to version V1.20 (29th July 2001 release). Scenery is a guide to groups, parties and releases on the c64/Amiga demoscene (pc is in development), and features what is likely the biggest, best and most comprehensive scene party index ever made public. It's an attempt to cover an important part of digital history, to accurately document things and events that otherwise might be forgotten.

Updated ExoticA's mirror of the High Voltage SID Collection to version 4.2. The collection now contains 16,320 C64 tunes. ExoticA offers the music individually via a simple to use HTML Interface or you can download them all in one large GZIP'd TAR Archive - HVSC.tar.gz. To see whats new you can check out the e-mail announcement text - update27.txt. For more in depth changes, you can refer to the update logs in the DOCUMENTS/ Directory.

2001-07-14
Ok I'm back. Sorry (Again!) for the lack of updates, but since the last one I have been busy with other things, as well as being ill and in bed for one week.

Some changes to the BP-SoundMon area - (View : Compact|Full):
 * Moved BP.Symphrock to Orchestral_Delights (The source of the tune)
 * Renamed Project_X_Special_Edition to Project-X and moved BP.Project_X-Level_2 to this archive.
 * Added BP.Slighty_Magic by Allister Brimble from the game Slightly Magic.
 * Added another version of BP.SM-In-Misery by Jeff / Animators taken from the demo Metal Melissa.
 * Added a 3rd version of Demo_Songs/BP.Cybersong - BP.Cybersong-2
 * Added BP.Raven_Theme_2 by The Raven from an intro by Cardinals
 * Renamed BP.Super_Robin_Hood to BP.Robin_Hood_Legend_Quest as it's actually from this later game. Although http://www.olivertwins.com lists Super Robin Hood released for Amiga, I could not find it nor any information about the Amiga version. The name inside the tune (SUPER) certainly would suggest it was made for a game of this name. Perhaps it was used for both ?

Thanks to Nomaios, NiceGuy and XtC for the new additions. Added a whole load of missing Newsflash diskmags to the Newsflash Section. Huge thanks to Lizard for sending these in. There is now only 3 missing disks (not including any support disks for existing issues I may have missed). Newsflash is a wonderful diskmag from UGA full of exclusive software/music/reviews and more. The newsflash area really needs to be reworked with a full overview of the contents of each disk. This will happen sometime in the future.
 * Issues 22 (Disk b), 28 (Disks a/b), 30 (2 Disks a/b) and 31 (2 Disks a/b).

Updated ExoticA's mirror of the High Voltage SID Collection to version 4.1. The collection now contains 15,808 C64 tunes. ExoticA offers the music individually via a simple to use HTML Interface or you can download them all in one large GZIP'd TAR Archive - HVSC.tar.gz. To see whats new you can check out the e-mail announcement text - update26.txt. For more in depth changes, you can refer to the update logs in the DOCUMENTS/ Directory.

I actually made this update a couple of weeks ago, but did not have the time to write a news text. Apologies for the delay.

Big update to the Demo Scene Reference Manual which is part of the Scenery Information System. Current version is now 3.93. Hundreds of changes since the last release including changes/information additions to Spreadpoint, Avalanche, Avalon, Artemis, Avenger, Freedom Force, Gang, Voice, Wild Copper, Megaforce, Level 4, D-Tect, TAR, Brainstorm, Overload, TECH, TGM Crew, RAF, and Midnightsun.

The Demo Pack Reference Manual is also updated to version 1.17. This can be found on the same page as the Demo Manual.

The tracker history which was temporarily taken offline for changes is now back online at the Info Section.

Moved the fantastic Ocean Intro image to the Intro Logo Gallery. If you are an artist and would like to contribute a logo to be used on the Intro Page then please Mail Me. Whether its a topical image, something relating to the content of the site, or just some fancy text, all ideas are welcome. So send them in! Any logo used will get put in the Intro Logo Gallery for future viewing pleasure.

2001-05-30
Finally, version 1.0 release of Exoticons is here. Exoticons consists of 1500 icons created from high quality box scans of Amiga games. Certainly, it must be the largest game icon collection currently available for the Amiga. It comes in both NewIcons and OS3.5/3.9 versions and is downloadable from the Misc Section. Please note that the packs are very large, and could take some time to download. They also should be appearing on Aminet very shortly.

As a bonus included with the Icons is a small intro coded by Cupid/IRIS. Big thanks to him for all his work. Thanks also to XtC for the drawer images and the wonderful Exoticons logo.

2001-05-08
ExoticA has gone Ocean Style! Check the fantastic new logo on the Intro Page! Huge thanks to XTC for his excellent work.

Both Web Rings and Browser Recommendations are removed for now from the Index Page. Partly for clashes on the bright background, and partly because I have no reason to support Yahoo and their harmful ideas and property policies.

2001-05-06
Added 38 scans to the Games Gallery. All complete with full author information and a link to the music if available. The new scans are:
 * A: Action Service, Aquanaut, Arabian Nights
 * C: Caesar Deluxe, California Games, Campaign (Alternative Scan), Captain Dynamo, CarVup, Cardiaxx, Castle Warrior, Catch'Em, Celtic Legends, Championship Manager93, Championship Manager 94, Championship Manager Italia, Chariots Of Wrath, Chase HQ 2, Chrono Quest 2, Clever And Smart, Clockwiser, Coala, Cohort 2, Colonel's Bequest, Colossus Chess X, Conflict Europe, Conquests Of Camelot, Continental Circus, Cool Croc Twins, Cool World, Cosmic Spacehead, Count Duckula, Crazy Cars 2, Crime Wave, Crystal Kingdom Dizzy, Curse Of Enchantia, Curse Of The Azure Bonds, Cybernoid 2, Cyberpunks

Thanks to Mike for making many of the scans. Updated the Game Information Database on the Info Section.

I forgot to mention in the last update about a new Scenery demo scene guide. Scenery64 has now been released, with information about C64 groups and productions. Although Scenery64 is still not finished, and many things are to be added, it still is a very good source of information.

Updated the Scenery Amiga to V1.10 (May 2001 release). Scenery Amiga is a comprehensive scene guide for the amiga. It shows the evolution of the Amiga scene, with information on parties, releases and groups. All the Scenery Guides are linked to from the Info Section.

You may have noticed from the Main Page that ExoticA now comes under the IRIS name. IRIS is a great demogroup founded in 1988 which I have recently joined and I hope to be an active and useful member of the team :) Visit the website at http://www.irishq.dk where you can find more information about the group, and download many of the productions.

2001-03-29
Added the following 29 scans to the Games Gallery:
 * 0-9: 4D Sports Driving
 * A: Altered Destiny
 * B: B17 Flying Fortress (Alternative Scan), Baby Jo, Back To The Future 2, Bangkok Knights, Barbarian (Palace), Barbarian 2 (Psygnosis), Batman The Caped Crusader, Battle For The Ashes, Battle Isle '93, Battletech (PCHits Budget Version), Beneath A SteelSky (CD32), Black Crypt (Original Version), Black Gold, Black Lamp, Black Magic, Black Viper, Blitzkrieg, Bloodwych (Alternative Scan), Blue And The Gray, Blue Angel 69, Bobo, Bonanza Bros, Booly, Brides Of Dracula, Bubble Dizzy, Bully's Sporting Darts, Bump'n'Burn (CD32) (Alternative Scan)

Updated Bloodwych with an improved scan. Big thanks to Mike for sending in many of the new images. Also updated the Game Information Database on the Info Section. As well as the new information from the most recent gallery additions, it contains a few fixes for previous items. There are many more fixes to apply, which I will do at a later date.

Added a Tracker History information page to the Info Section. This area is also linked to from the Editors Page.

Updated the Demo Scene Reference Manual to version 3.90. Many changes have taken place since the last release including updates to Mute 101, TSB and Relay.

Added the following Custom modules to the CUST-Custom Section (View: Compact|Full):
 * Criticals_Promotion.lha
 * Thunder_Blade.lha
 * CUST.Bastards_Intro.lha
 * CUST.Blue_Angel_69.lha
 * CUST.Double_Dragon_2.lha
 * CUST.England_Championship.lha
 * CUST.Gluecksrad.lha
 * CUST.HQC_Intro.lha
 * CUST.Obitus-Intro.lha
 * CUST.Pink_Panther.lha
 * CUST.Protector.lha
 * CUST.Rainbow_Warriors.lha
 * CUST.Ski_Or_Die.lha
 * CUST.Star_Goose-WT.lha
 * CUST.Super_Tetris.lha
 * CUST.Tetra_Quest.lha
 * CUST.Victory_Road.lha
 * CUST.VirusKiller_V2.0_Pro.lha
 * CUST.WCF_Intro.lha

Thanks to Don Adan for making all these great rips (Which were released first to Aminet). Full credits for these tunes can be found on the CUST-Custom Section (As linked above). As usual, the credits are also on the file comments inside the LHA's.

2001-03-10
Added a link to the ExoticA Partner site - Nectarine - on the Tunes Section. Nectarine is a fantastic Scene Radio Station. Go there now, and listen online to hundreds of your favourite Amiga, C64 game and demo tunes.

Forgot to mention that a Credits Section was added on the Info Page. Here you can see photos and read information about the people behind this website.

2001-03-09
Updated ExoticA's mirror of the High Voltage SID Collection to version 4.0. The collection now contains 15,342 C64 tunes. ExoticA offers the music individually via a simple to use HTML Interface or you can download them all in one large GZIP'd TAR Archive - HVSC.tar.gz. I failed to mention in previous updates about a new version of the great SCENERY - Amiga Demo Scene Guide. Scenery is definately the most comprehensive Amiga demo scene guide available. This is the February 2001 release - Read the main page about what's new.
 * To see whats new you can check out the e-mail announcement text - update25.txt.
 * For more in depth changes, you can refer to the update logs in the DOCUMENTS/ Directory.

I have been a bit slow on updates recently, and for this I can only apologise. However, despite the other important things in my life right now (mostly work), there has been on-going development of a new area for ExoticA.

It will contain a lot which the current music directory doesn't - Game Music from games utilising standard Sound/Noise/Protracker or cloned/packed formats of this.

More information about this area will be released soon, but the archive is already close to 100 mb in size!. All are full game rips - and all in their original game format (Unless we have original soundtracks supplied by the Author).

All tunes are also sorted by Author and we wil provide a comprehensive HTML interface to the music.

I also have currently more than 350 ! scans waiting to be added to the Game Box Scan gallery. I hope to get these online as soon as possible. Along with the new Players Area and additional tune sections.

2001-02-18
Added 15 new scans to the Games Gallery. The new additions are ADS, Aaargh, Abandoned Places, Addams Family, Alcatraz, Alien Syndrome, 'Allo 'Allo, Annals Of Rome, Armada, The Art Of Chess, Ashes of Empire, Armour Geddon, Assassin, Asterix, Axel's Magic Hammer. Also replaced the scan of Amegas with a much improved one. Big thanks to Mike for making many of the scans.

Fixed many errors on the Games Gallery and updated the Game Information Database which can be found on the Info Section. A quick note about the gallery:

It has come to our attention recently, that many people have been ripping off the images. We spend many hours scanning/retouching images and researching the information for each game. It is extremely rude to download the images, crop off the banner, resize and place on your own site (and without a single mention of the source). We ask the guilty parties that you consider the work involved and refrain from this kind of behavior. Continued abuse and we may resort to naming and shaming the sites involved.

Updated the Demo Scene Reference Manual which is part of the Scenery Information System. Current version is now 3.85. Numerous changes and additions have taken place since the last public release.

2001-01-21
Added the following scans to the Games Gallery. This brings the gallery to a total of 1026 scans. Thanks to Mike for sending many of the images.
 * 0-9: 1st Division Manager, 3D Pool
 * D: Dragon Stone CD32, Dune, Darkseed (Action Sixteen Budget Version), Deep Core, Demoniak, Disposable Hero, Donk, Dune 2

Updated the Game Information Database on the Info Section.

Added the following game tunes from Allister Brimble to the BP-SoundMon Section: (View: Compact|Full). Revamped the MXTX-MaxTrax section. Improved filenames, new rips and added credits. (View Section: Compact|Full).
 * BP.1st_Division_Manager.lha
 * BP.Mean_Machine.lha
 * BP.Monopoly_Deluxe_USA.lha
 * BP.Seymour_Goes_Hollywood.lha
 * BP.Super_Grand_Prix.lha

Added the previous Xmas logo to the Intro Logo Gallery.