Shape Design

From ExoticA
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Shape Design (SHAPE, 1988-)

NOR> Andreas (gfx, aka AWA, ex Dytec, new 01/95-06/99), Eivind Sommersten
     (code music, also in BM, 03/91-01/96), Glenn HD (06/99), Glenn Rune
     Gallefoss (code music, also in BM and Onslaught, aka Shark and GRG, ex
     Digital Designs, 94-10/03), Haakon (01/96), Hans Petter (01/96), Kjell
     Nordbo (code gfx music, also in BM, 03/91-01/96), Kristian Rostoen (gfx
     music, also in BM, 03/91-01/96), Morten (01/96), Richard (01/96), Rolf
     Runar (01/96), Snorre Narum (code, 03/91-01/96), Sveinung (01/96).
DEN> Duke (new 01/96).

Boards; DRUGSTORE (nor, 01/96).

PREVIOUS MEMBERS (pre 01/96) -

NOR> Kaare (gfx, 05/93), Magnus (gfx, 03/91), Moonray (Bjørn Røstøen, gfx,
     later Shadows, 05/89), Nightmare (Per Vidar Lund, swap), Predator
     (music, 10/89), Rune (code, 10/89), Trasher (Preben Vindholmen, code
     gfx, 06/90), Unitrax (code gfx, 02-10/89), Zip (Einar, code, 02-10/89).
SWE> Tracer (Fredrik Nordlund, swap, 05/89), Vision (Michael Nilsson, code
     swap, 05/89).
???> AMJ (music, 03/91), Calculus (nor? 02/89), Chip (nor? 02/89), Dominator
     (nor? 02/89), DPL (nor? code gfx, 02-06/89), Hector (nor? 02-05/89),
     Jerkin (nor? code, 02-05/89), Kaiser (nor? gfx, 02-05/89), Oki (nor?
     02/89), Powpin (gfx, 05/89), Trade (ex Play Power/Megastyle, new
     02/90), TUW (nor? code gfx, 02-06/89), Zoar (nor? 02-05/89).

Shape are a Norwegian demo group, formed around the end of 1988. SHAPE means
Supreme Headquarters Allied Programmers Europe. They have a sort of 'music
section', whose members are also fulltime members of the group, called
Blues Muz' (hereafter and above BM). Most of their tunes was made using Olav
Mørkrid/Panoramic Designs' editor and player. Glenn R. Gallefoss made quite
a few utilities, including an improved v2.0 version of Snorre Narum's 3x3
Chareditor [91], released in 1995.
  1989 - Shape co-hosted a copyparty in the city of Porsgrunn, Norway in
october with TRC, and came 2nd in the demo competition with "Phoenix"
[10/89].
  1990 - Play Power (PP)/Megastyle changed his handle to Trade and joined
around february. Norwegian coder Daredevil (02/89-) left the scene, as
reported in the demo "Marantz" [07/90]. Norwegians Eric and Tony (swap,
05/89-) left the group in july for Beyond Force.
  1991 - Yup and Burp left the group around january to build a new group
called Offence. Rooster joined Padua early 91.
  1995 - Rooster/Dytec joined around january, and is now known as Andreas.
  1996 - This year signalled a revitalisation of the group, with fresh
energy and new ideas.

  At Last (1989, 25.02, File).
  code: Jerkin, Daredevil, gfx: Kaiser, Unitrax (logo), JTF/Hexagon (chars),
  music: Shade/The Troopers (part 2), rest is ripped.
  5th in the Rawhead, Bros, Suppliers Party demo competition.

  Coococ Four (1989, 14.05, Diskmag).
  Released at the Equinox and Horizon party.

  Demented Children (1989, 14.05, Multifile Demo).
  code: DPL, Unitrax, Zip, TUW, Vision, gfx: DPL, Unitrax, Moonray, TUW,
  Powpin, music: Jeroen Tel/Maniacs of Noise, Fame, Demon, MAD/MON, Johannes
  Bjerregaard, Lords of Sonics, Slaygon, Oliver Klaever.
  Released for the Equinox and Horizon party demo competition.
  review: Scrollers, scrollers, scrollers. This demo fails on its almost
  total lack of inventiveness, being just one part after the other, all
  looking a lot like each other. The graphics are plentiful, but all are of
  the logo or charset variety, and all look like they've been filled with a
  formulaic program. The music is all ripped from various games, though in a
  bit of fairness they're a pretty good selection. The overall impression of
  this 12-part demo is that there's just too many parts with little or no
  variation, too many scrollers, and not enough excitement. A few pictures
  beside these endless blue logos would be nice... [glenn]

  Phoenix (1989, 15.10, Demo).
  code: Zip, Daredevil, Unitrax, Rune, gfx: Unitrax, music: various.
  2nd in the Shape & TRC Party demo competition.
  review: "Phoenix" is an ok 4-part demo, released at Shape and TRC's party
  in Porsgrunn, Norway in october. (part 1) It all opens with a rather
  stylish part, complete with "Last Ninja" picture done by Charles
  Deenen/M.O.N! I really didn't know he was a graphician... The part in
  itself is perhaps nothing special... It features the aforementioned
  picture, with the letters SHAPE in sprites overlaid and moving. Below this
  is a PHOENIX logo, and at the left side of this logo is a small
  upscroller. Code by Zip and Daredevil, gfx by Charles Deenen and Unitrax
  (logo), nice music by IQ 64/Mozicart. (part 2) The second part features a
  multiplexed dysp - that's lots of sprites, and in all the borders too, for
  those who don't know - done by Unitrax. And that's all this part features,
  really - just those sprites, saying they are 'MULTIPLEXED DYSP BY
  UNITRAX', moving around on an otherwise black screen. No music credit
  given, but it's possibly JCH/Vibrants (at least his player - but then
  again lots of people used THAT). (part 3) The third part is built around a
  212 points plotter routine, done by Rune. It features just this, a SHAPE
  logo done by M.N.L/TRC, and music by Mozicart. So we press space again for
  the final part. (part 4) This one is pure graphical overkill, after the
  spartan presentation of the two former ones - a big quilt of a picture is
  scrolled left and right, as well as some animated stuff in the upper and
  lower border too. All coding and graphics by Unitrax, and music by
  Predator. So that's it - an amusing little demo, nothing exceptional, but
  a nice little thing with a few interesting parts. The demo is a single 188
  block file. [glenn]

  Marantz (1990, 01.07, File Demo).
  code: Trasher, gfx: Trasher, Dolla/WOT (fonts), Alex/ALD (font), music:
  JCH/Vibrants (part1), 20cc (part2), Maniacs of Noise (part3).
  Released at the Bergen Party.
  review: This opens with a text-and-logo screen outlining some of the
  credits for the rest of the demo. There are no real 'effects' in this
  small piece, just a few basic things. The demo is almost entirely done by
  Trasher, code and graphics. All the music is ripped. After the relatively
  tame opening, the next part contains just a scroller, in addition to a
  SHAPE logo and some palm trees =] The last part has another SHAPE logo,
  and the only almost-an-effect in the demo; a sinus-sprite routine, with
  parameters chooseable with the joystick. Your world will hardly go down in
  flames if you miss this one... =] [glenn]

  Shaped Up (1991, 30.03, Multifile demo).
  code: Eivind Sommersten, Snorre Narum, gfx: Kjell Nordbo, Magnus, music:
  AMJ, Moz(ic)Art/independent, Eivind Sommersten, Kristian Rostoen.
  Released at the Horizon Easter Party.
  review: One thing makes this demo worth owning: Kjell's awesome opening
  logo. It's nice to see something a little out of the ordinary, and a
  little more colorful than most. Excellent work! Unfortunately the rest of
  the demo does not fully come up to THAT standard. There's a DYCP part with
  WAY too many DYCPs, for example. The result, of course, is that they only
  have two or three pixels to move up or down in, each. It doesn't look
  good, thrust me. The overall impression is, as they say themselves,
  something of a rushed job. Not bad, but needs more work. [glenn]

  Blues Muz' Pack 1 (1992, Filedemo).
  code: Eivind Sommersten, gfx: Krisitian Røstøen, Kjell Nordbo (chars),
  music: Eivind Sommersten, Kristian Røstøen.
  review: This one certainly falls into the category ‘music demo‘. It‘s a
  logo, a scroll, and 9 tunes to choose from. Actually, the design is not
  too bad on this demo, but they could perhaps have used some more cheerful
  colors. Ofcourse the music is what counts here, and it‘s not bad at all.
  As mentioned, there‘s 9 tunes here, and most are surprisingly short,
  ranging from a little over a minute to a little over 3 and a half. And no
  Norwegian native can resist applauding a cover version of the theme for
  the cheesy German tv police show 'Derrick'! Lots of charm.
    They mentioned in the scroll it was going to get released at a party,
  but that was all we were told. No indication of a release date! [glenn]

  Blues Muz' Pack 2 (1992, Filedemo).
  code: Eivind Sommersten, gfx: Kristian Røstøen, music: Eivind Sommersten,
  Kristian Røstøen.
  review: This pack is much the same as the first one, though there's new
  graphics and some new design. There's a nice effect they could have done
  more with, which is a keyboard 'interpreting' the music, much like the
  Phenomena musicdisks "Music Dream" on the Amiga. The tunes are perhaps not
  as high quality as in the first one - as Eivind admits in the scroll - but
  it's not bad either. Ofcourse, some pieces are stronger than others. Fair.
  [glenn]

  Blues Muz': JCH (1993, Filedemo).
  production: Eivind Sommersten, Kristian Røstøen, Kejll Nordbo.
  review: An even more spartan music pack than before, but I can appreciate
  the meaning: The music is what counts. And in this case, it really does!
  :) Shape's music section presents three really good tunes here, and the
  minimalist approach to the visuals actually help draw attention to the
  tunes rather than to other things. I applaud! [glenn]

  Blues Muz': The Magic Flute (1994, early, Filedemo).
  production: Kjell Nordbo.
  review: Another music demo from BM, and unfortunately the weakest one yet.
  I think Kjell‘s tunes have too much of an 80‘s feel to them - not the
  beefy, bassy beats of the others. The design also looks a bit dated,
  though the basic idea is quite good. Along the bottom right border is a
  flute, and out of it comes little notes dancing to the top. There's also a
  scroller, ofcourse, which tries to be different but is only ugly. I'm
  sorry, Kjell, but I can't recommend this to anyone. [glenn]

  Blues Muz': Born Alive Dead (1996, Filedemo).
  production: Kjell Nordbo.
  review: Well, Kjell has certainly improved a lot in the two years since
  "The Magic Flute". This selector is still far from exciting, but at least
  some of his tunes sound a bit better now. There‘s a huge amount of tunes
  here - 26! - which offers good variety. Having said that, a lot of it is
  just plain shit, while other pieces offer some nice things. You still have
  a way to go, Kjell, but you're getting there. You should perhaps consider
  working more with music than coding and gfx, though... :)
    Kjell mentions on the intro screen that this is his fourth music pack.
  [glenn]

  Little Partydemo (1999, 19.06, File).
  3rd in the Remedy 99 demo competition.
  review: Just a nice little one-screen intro, with a SHAPE outline logo in
  the middle of screen, and blue swirling strobe lights illuminating it from
  behind. It actually looks quite cool :) Nice but very...little. [glenn]