Stellar

From ExoticA

Stellar (1992-)

Stellar is a Amiga demo group.

FIN> Anis (code, late93-95), Chameleon (code, 07/92-93), Daeron (code,
     06-08/95), Dalmak (Tony Hagerlund, mainorg trade swap, old handle
     Orion, 07/92-08/95), Dune (gfx music, doublememb Orange [pc],
     08/95-01/96), Dweezil (Mark Saarinen, code, ex Carillon, 08/93-95),
     Erkki (gfx, 95), Frankie (Sami Piskonen, gfx, ex Agnostic Front,
     08/93-04/96), Groo (Sami Jarvinen, music, 08/95-04/96), Hooks (Panu
     Liukkonen, code, 95-04/96), Index (ari Ijas, swap trade, ex Addonic,
     02/93), Inquisitor (gfx, 07/92-08/93), Kefeus (code, 07/92-95), Kube
     (Matti Nykanen, gfx, ex Virtual Dreams, 95), Lemming (org, 04/96), Mac
     (Mikko Koivisto, code swap, ex Addonic, 07/92-late93), Mango (code
     music, 12/92-late93), Moonshine (code, ex Calibra, 08/93), Neuresten
     (gfx, 10/95), Nose (Jyrki Saarinen, code, 08/94-04/96), Procyon (code
     music, 07/92-08/93), Razer (Jani Norminen, code, ex Alcatraz, new
     10/93-01/94), Strobo (Miko Nyman, gfx music, 06/92-01/96), Zuikki
     (code, 08/94-08/95).
SWE> Dep (code, ex Wrath Designs, new 08/96), Elixir (code, ex Wrath
     Designs, new 08/96).
???> Lobo (ex Origin).

Stellar is a finnish demogroup, formed by the previous Finnish section of
Equinox in 1992. They were wellknown for their technical, innovative demos,
and they were among the leading amiga groups in finland for a while. Names
seem to indicate that Dweezil and Nose are brothers? Not sure I understand
the joining/eaving situation with Kube between Stellar and Virtual Dreams
...unless he joined and left both groups several times :)

  1992 - The same mag that brought the news of their forming (Static Bytes'
"EuroCharts #15" [07/92]) also brough the news of their death - they had
supposedly formed Vision SF. Their first release was likely the intro "Hard
To Be God" [07/92] at Assembly, together with contributions for the graphics
and music competitions by Gator and Strobo. It was followed by more intros,
like "Perversia" [07/92], "We Are Clever" [08/92] and "Peach Boys" [late92].
Finnish graphician Morpheus joined Chrome in september. Finnish graphician
Gator (ex Addonic, new 06/92-08/92) changed his handle to Dwel and joined
Alcatraz around october. Their next party release wouldn't come until the
Analogy Hitech Party in december, where the filedemo "The First AIDS Kit"
[12/92] was released, but unplaced in the competition.

  1993 - Dweezil joined from Carillon when the group ceased to exist, likely
around january or february. Many smaller productions got released during the
first half of 1993, like "Immaculate Conception" [93], "Lintu-Intro" [93],
"Contemplation" [93], "Lipstick" [93] and "State of the Fast" [07/93].
Burefalos' board 'SLAUGHTER HOUSE' went down in july, since the sysop was
moving to the usa. At the European Computer Conference in sweden in early
august, the intro "Hands of Pleasure" [08/93] reached the 5th position in
the competition. Their first victory was achieved just a few days later,
when Dweezil's intro "Bananamen" [08/93] won the 40k intro competition at
the big finnish party Assembly! Additionally, Kefeus' "Wild Things" [08/93]
reached 7th in the same competition. Finnish graphicians Artifex and Hotshot
(both 12/92-) both joined Complex in august, likely at the Assembly. A small
production called "After Assembly 93" [late93] was released a small while
later. Two more releases were made in the later months of 1993; the intro
"Jamaica" [late93] and the file-mag "Stellar Times #3" [late93]. At the
scene's main event of the year, The Party 93, Razer's intro "Hallucination"
[12/93] reached the 4th place in the competition.

  1994 - The first release this year was the design-fixed version of
"Hallucination" [12/93], called "The Second Hallucination" [01/94]. The next
months were filled with minor releases such as "Doop" [early94], "Chipsie
King" [early94], "Stellar Times #5" [early94] and "Eurochart 25 Trailer
Intro" [early94]. But they were saving the thunder for Assembly, and come
august they took the step up into Finland's upmost elite. Nose and Zuikki's
demo "Mindflow" [08/94] won the demo competition, and Dweezil's underrated
intro "Darkroom" [08/94] took a third position in the 40k intro competition.
This was followed by four months of silence before The Party in december,
when Zuikki and Nose released the innovative intro "Peverly Hills" [12/94]
to a disappointing 7th position despite one of the amiga's best voxel
routines ever.

  1995 - Almost half a year of silence opened the year, before Nose, Daeron
and Zuikki's "Human Excrement" [06/95] was released for the demo competition
at Abduction 95 in finland, which it won. The demo was not released at the
party, but instead a fixed and renamed version, "Toilet" [07/95], was
released a short while later. The same coder-trio returned with another demo
for the Assembly competition, "Miracles" [08/95], which finished third in
competition. October's Scenario party in finland brought another demo,
"Aurora" [10/95], by new members Juliet & Case (who had previously made
demos on their under). The demo was another success for the group, who won
the competition. Juliet & Case didn't stay in the group long, and by
december they were members of CNCD. "Aurora" became their only release for
Stellar. The year was rounded off, as usual, with the The Party in
denmark. Here, Nose released the demo "Galerie" [12/95] on his own, to a
very disappointing 9th position.

  1996 - The demo "Galerie Remix" [01/96] was released to the winning
position of the Juhla 96 party in january, restoring some of their lost
dignity from The Party competition three weeks earlier. For once, the group
attended The Gathering in norway during the easter holidays, and took home
the winner trophy in the intro competition with Nose and Hook's "Lights"
[04/96]! As far as we can record, this became Stellar's last ever release.
The two swedes Dep (code) and Elixir (music) were recruited from Wrath
Designs at Assembly, though that too proved a dead end and neither ever
released anything for Stellar.

Uncut left.
Danish superswapper The Pride left the scene after 9 years. During that
  time, The Pride was one of the pioneers of packmaking.
French graphician and swapper Shadow (Philippe La Visse, 07/93) is no longer
  a member.
Finnish musician Stargazer joined Sonic for a brief while, then moved on to
  Complex.

  Hard To Be God (1992, 25.07, ECS File).
  code: Procyon, gfx: Gator, music: Strobo.
  Released for the Assembly 1992 amiga intro competition, unplaced.

  Perversia (1992, .07, ECS Intro).
  code: Procyon, gfx: Procyon (anim, font), Gator (pic), Inquisitor (logo),
  music: Strobo (The Player 4.xx format).
  review: This intro opens with a picture by Gator of an eagle. It's in
  blue and black, and not terribly good. The intro itself is just a bunch
  of spinning vectorcubes on the background with a 1-bitplane text writer
  on top. On the left-hand side of the screen there's an OK Stellar logo.
  [glenn]
  GLE tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0. -- Note: KillAGA.

  We Are Clever (1992, .08, ECS File).
  code: Procyon, gfx: Gator, Inquisitor, music: Strobo.

  Peach Boys (1992, late?, ECS Intro).
  code: Kefeus, gfx: Hotshot (intropic), Artifex (logo, font), music:
  Strobo.
  review: Nothing too exciting here, just an intropic and some vectors to
  write contact adresses and messages on top of. The left-hand logo is
  nice, though. [glenn]
  GLE tested A2000/000-7 /1mb chip, 2mb fast/2.04.
             A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.
                Note: Intropic has graphical errors, but works fine.

  The First AIDS Kit (1992, 12.12, ECS File).
  code: Chameleon, gfx: Artifex, music: Strobo.
  Released for the Analogy Hitek Party intro competition, unplaced.

  Immaculate Conception (1993, early/mid, ECS File).
  code: Kefeus, Chameleon, gfx: Inquisitor, music: Procyon.

  Lintu-Intro (1993, mid?, ECS File).
  code: Moonshine, gfx/music: Strobo.

  Contemplation (1993, mid?, ECS File).
  code: Dweezil, gfx: Inquisitor, music: Strobo.

  Lipstick (1993, mid?, ECS File).
  code: Moonshine, gfx: Frankie, music: Strobo.

  State of the Fart (1993, 05.07, ECS File).
  code: Procyon, gfx/music: Strobo.

  Hands of Pleasure (1993, 05.08, ECS Intro).
  code: Procyon, gfx: Strobo, music: n/a.
  5th in the European Computer Conference (ECC) 93 intro competition.

  Bananamen (1993, 10.08, ECS 40k Intro).
  code: Dweezil, gfx: n/a, music: Strobo.
  Winner of the Assembly 93 40k intro competition!
  GLE tested A1200/020-14/2mb chip/3.0.           -- Note: KillAGA.
             A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0. -- Note: KillAGA.

  Wild Things (1993, 10.08, ECS 40k Intro).
  code: Kefeus, gfx: Inquisitor, Strobo, Artifex, music: Strobo.
  7th in the Assembly 93 40k intro competition.

  After Assembly 93 (1993, late, ECS File).
  code: Moonshine, gfx: Frankie, music: Strobo.

  Jamaica (1993, late, ECS Intro).
  code: Anis, gfx/music: Strobo.
  review: Release was at least before The Party 93, since text in the intro
  says 'Sources for sale! Support Anis to TP93' - or words to that effect ;)
  [glenn]
  GLE tested A500 /000-7 /½mb chip, ½mb fast/2.04.
             A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.

  Stellar Times #3 (1993, late, ECS Filemag).
  code: Mac, Mango, gfx/music: Strobo.
  review: Calling this a mag is a bit on the fresh side, it's just a big
  picture (formed like the front page of a newspaper) you can scroll around
  on with your mouse. Not scene-related either, but quite funny. [glenn]
  GLE tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0. -- Note: KillAGA.

  Hallucination (1993, 28.12, ECS 40k Intro).
  code: Razer, gfx/music: Strobo.
  info: A fixed version of the intro was later released, under the name "The
  Second Hallucination".
  4th in The Party 93 40k intro competition.

  The Second Hallucination, The (1994, .01, ECS Intro).
  code: Razer, gfx/music: Strobo.
  review: 2nd Hallucination is a design-fixed version of Hallucination.
  The release-date is pure speculation =) [glenn]
  GLE tested A1200/020-14/2mb chip/3.0.
             A1200/030-502mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0. -- Note: KillAGA.

  Doop (1994, early, File).

  Chipsie King (1994, early, Musicfile).

  Stellar Times #5 (1994, early, Filemag).

  Eurochart 25 Trailer Intro (1994, early, AGA File).
  code: Hook/Genocide, gfx: Frankie/Stellar, Harri R (animation), music:
  Strobo/Stellar. Cooperation with Genocide.
  review: The opening of this small demo/dentro is quite impressive - it's
  an animation, where we travel around a mountain top, and some terrain.
  It's very impressive, and I'm still not sure if it's actual footage or if
  it was rendered... There's only one other real 'routine' in the demo, a
  good zoomrotator with stretching and smoothing (?) Anyway, it looks real
  nice, and the picture doesn't appear blocky at all. Hmm...
    Made to announce the upcoming 'Eurochart #25' by Static Bytes
  (eventually release 05/94). Why on earth such an intro was made by Stellar
  and Genocide, I don't have the faintest idea :)
  GLE tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.

  Mindflow (1994, 06.08, AGA File).
  code: Nose, Zuikki, gfx: Frankie, Strobo, music: Strobo.
  Winner of the Assembly 94 demo competition!
  review: This one opens with a Stellar logo of acceptable quality by
  Frankie. Then it gets off to a flying start with a great flight over a
  voxel landscape to the opening part of Strobo's tune - which is
  incidentally the best part. Then a Mindflow logo appears (which could
  have been MUCH better). From there it goes through good renditions of
  some of the more popular effects of the time - fullscreen rot-zoomer with
  stretching, texturemapped cube, Doom routine, realtime 2x2 (I think)
  zooming fractal and so on. A quite good demo, and an essential addition
  to anyone's demo collection. I seem to remember it demands some fastmem.
  [glenn]
  GLE tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.

  Darkroom (1994, 06.08, ECS 40k Intro).
  code: Dweezil, gfx: n/a, music: Strobo.
  3rd place in the Assembly 94 40k intro competition.
  review: I always liked this for its originality. There had never been
  anything quite like it before, it was something brand new at the time...
  What makes Darkroom special is the mood of the thing; that dark, mystic
  feeling that it evokes...and Strobo's industrial soundtrack is a very
  important part of that. Not to be missed. It is worth noting, though,
  that on a machine as fast as mine, it looses some of its value because
  the effects move TOO quickly. Therefore, best viewed on an A500 ;) [glenn]
  GLE tested A500 /000-7 /½mb chip, ½mb fast/2.04.
             A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.

  Peverly Hills (1994, 28.12, AGA 40k Intro).
  code: Zuikki, Nose, gfx: Frankie (font), Strobo (design), music: Groo/CNCD
  (The Player 6.0A format). 7th in The Party 4 40k intro competition.
  review: Stellar presents the world's first HAM8 3D-Terrain (or to use the
  correct term: voxelspace), in a nicely designed intro that finished too
  low in the competition, in my opinion. It looks dead great too, though the
  resolution could perhaps be a little better. It's perhaps best viewed a
  few feet from the screen. On the other hand, this is an intro that runs on
  a vanilla, no-fastmem A1200, so resources are limited. Though essentially
  a one-effect intro, this 33k masterpiece still manages to impress me when
  I first saw it. The terrain movements are calculated randomly, and thus
  the intro is different each time it is run. Pressing right mouse button
  even enables the user to control the movements, proving this is a true
  real-time experience. Any help in locating the elusive 'hidden part'
  mentioned withing would be most greatly appreciated...
    They say in the text inside the intro, 'Thanks to Jarno Paananen for The
  Player 6.1A', but the module included was made with the previous version;
  The Player 6.0A. The music is dead cool, btw =) [glenn]
  GLE tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.

  Human Excrement (1995, 11.06, AGA File).
  code: Nose, Daeron, Zuikki, gfx/music: Dune/Orange.
  Winner of the Abduction 95 demo competition!
  review: A fixed version was released later, under the name "Toilet"
  [07/95]. [glenn]
  GLE tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.

  Toilet (1995, 12.07, AGA File).
  code: Nose, Daeron, Zuikki, gfx/music: Dune/Orange (The Player 6.0A
  format).
  review: "Toilet" is a pretty dead demo, that almost completely fails to
  create any sense of pace or excitement, despite competent coding. It seems
  most of their objects use some kind of dithering method to make the blocky
  renders appear smoother than they are. It's mildly successful, and does
  make f.ex. the opening logo appear more smooth. It kinda looks like
  gouraud with smoothing =) Other objects appear to be phong-shaded, which
  was certainly advanced for its time. The demo uses specifically optimized
  versions of its code for 020/030 and 040 machines. Dune/Orange is normally
  active on the pc demo scene.
    The demo opens with a zoom into a 3d Stellar logo, before it whisks away
  to one side just before we are supposed to 'hit' it. Next is a none-too-
  great raytraced 'Toilet' logo. Then a supposedly phongshaded object,
  roughly the shape of a star symbol, in shades of grey and silver. Several
  'spring-like' objects appear on the screen next, coming in from one side
  and bouncing around the screen for a small while before disappearing
  again. Next is what looks *almost* like an envmap object, but I can't be
  sure on this one. This is followed by the credits and a few more lines of
  text before the show is ended with a really strange object, though perhaps
  the most advanced one in the entire demo.
    Please note that this review refers to the 'final fixed version'.
  "Toilet" is actually a final-version of their previous demo "Human
  Excrement" [06/95], winner of the Abduction 95 competition. The original
  used a module made with The Player 6.1A, but since that version bugs on
  040, it seems they reverted to The Player 6.0A for this one. [glenn]
  GLE tested A1200/020-14/2mb chip/3.0.
             A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.
             A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 16mb fast/3.1.

  Miracles (1995, 12.08, AGA HD Multifile).
  code: Nose, Zuikki (render system), Daeron (utilities), gfx: Frankie,
  Dune (objects, textures), music: Groo.
  3rd in The Assembly 95 demo competition.
  review: It's the usual rendering stuff from Stellar, perhaps a little
  more entertaining than usual. The one thing that was a positive
  surprise was the music. It's a quite dynamic tune from Groo, perhaps a
  little Lizardking-y at times, but really good! The text file says it
  was never meant to be run on machines below 030-25 with fast. [glenn]
  GLE tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.

  Aurora (1995, 12.10, AGA File).
  code: Juliet & Case, gfx: Neuresten, music: Groo.
  Winner of the Scenario 95 demo competition!
  review: Ok, but clearly a '2-day production' as it says at the end.
  It's the usual Stellar stuff, with texture-mapped/rendered shapes flying
  around, and not much else. Technically competent, but not too exciting.
  Groo's music is it's usual weird self, but still one of his better tunes.
  [glenn]
  GLE tested A1200/030-50/2mb cip, 4mb fast/3.0.

  Galerie (1995, 28.12, AGA 4MB Multifile).
  code: Nose, gfx: Frankie, music: Dune/Orange (6ch ScreamTracker ]I[
  format). 9th in The Party 5 demo competition.
  review: Opens with an orange Galerie logo, then onto a fast but blocky
  voxel landscape with lens flares - probably a jazzed-up version of their
  routine for the 40k intro "Peverly Hills" [12/94]. Next up are three
  shaded rings, and a large greyscale bumpmapped object. Then a tunnel
  appears with sparks of light lighting the walls as they fly around. This
  is the fastest effect (or so their system-tester tells me, 48fps :), and
  the one which looks best, to boot. Next up is a texturemapped and phong-
  shaded stone object, then a bump-tunnel. After that, a spinning cityscape
  appears, complete with more lens flares. Another tunnel effect follows,
  though one of the better ones in the demo, kind of caleidoscope-like'.
  Next up we have a yellowish bumpmapped landscape, which morphs its
  mountains up and down into the sky! A texturemapped and gouraud-shaded
  landscape ends the show, which reminded me a little of standing close to a
  mountain looking up, in the dark. If this last effect was developed a
  little further, it could have been great, but as it is now, it feels
  slightly unachived. However, a pretty good release that would probably
  have come higher in the competition if it had been longer. Even though no
  mention is made of it, Dune was likely NOT a member, and still just in
  Orange on the pc.
    One large drawback to this demo is the fact that it's presented entirely
  in the 'ghosted' c2p mode, where every other pixel is blacked out.
  Supposedly, this improves rendering speeds, but visually it is no match
  for solid effects. The demo uses Jarno Paananen's PS3M for audio playback
  of the S3M file, and Ludde's c2p routine. Requires 4MB fastmem. [glenn]
  GLE tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.

  Galerie Remix (1996, 13.01, AGA Multifile, 2 disks).
  code: Nose, gfx: Frankie, music: Strobo, Dune.
  Winner of the Juhla 96 demo competition!
  review: Well, it's Galerie with a couple of new pics, new music, a few
  new (and unusual!) textures, and without the original's last couple of
  effects. Lacks design, and doesn't have either a dynamic design or any
  real sense of identity. Just effects set to music. Oh, I nearly forgot -
  it now runs in a smaller window (drawback, but needs less processor
  power), and without the 'ghosted' effect (improvement!).
  GLE tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.

  Lights (1996, 05.04, AGA 40k Intro).
  code: Nose, Hook (wave routine), gfx: Frankie, music: Groo, Production
  Manager: Lemming. Winner of The Gathering 96 40k intro competition!
  review: Having just watched "Lights" for the first time, I'm left in a
  state of awe. It hasn't got INCREDIBLY revolutionary code, but what there
  is looks so good it's totally forgiveable. It opens (after precalculating
  for a while) with an impressive tunnel effect while some words flash in
  the top left of the screen before stopping at the word Stellar. Then
  we're quickly on to a sort of wave/ripple routine, which isn't the best
  part of the intro. But Stellar saves the best for last, and finally
  presents us with a showstopping effect: Mapped and shaded coins fall down
  from the top of the screen, with little sparkles added when the light
  falls on them. At the top of the screen, the text 'I Had A Dream...'
  scrolls slowly from the right to the left. Then we're treated to the end
  logo; the text LIGHTS with a spotlight effect on it. All through this
  we're listening to one of Groo's coolest tunes in a long while. What makes
  "Lights" a winner is that little something undefinable... It's sort of the
  same quality that they achieved with "Darkroom" [08/94] all those years
  ago. Highly recommended. [glenn]
  GLE tested A1200/030-50/2mb chip, 4mb fast/3.0.

Music in the UnExoticA collection

The following demos in the UnExoticA collection were created by Stellar.