Scene.org Demoscene News Service

Pator just does it! Bitphase - a new Atari (not only) tracker

[ Atariscne.org - News ] Pator just does it! Bitphase - a new Atari (not only) tracker

The overly talented AY-musician Pator active on the published am alpha version of a new AY/YM tracker working in the webrowser. Bitphase has a slick interface and comes with full pattern and instrument editor. This looks like a modern and flexible solution for creating AY/YM tracks.

The slick Bitphase frontend

You will find a few demo tracks in the tracker, e.g. Pator's great Kizuna track he did for the related SMFX/Joker demo. 

Also, there are good news in Atari matters. Timer effect support is on the plan, and of course those timer based sounds are made exportable as well. While the track has .psg  export, just today spkr/SMFX put a cherry on the cake and implemented .sndh support. So we have a new Atari tracker I would say!

SNDH-export - the most important feature, obviously!

All this raised our interest, so with the help of spkr/smfx we were able to conduct  a quick interview with the creator himself!

 

Hello Pator! You are known  as a well known musician in the AY-chip, and this tracker coded by you came quite as a surprise. What's your motivation behind it? Are you unhappy with existing tools and what do you think makes this tracker special?

I'm unhappy with vortex tracker not having good code for further expansions. So i had some ideas like virtual channels and in future sid sound but this delphi code isnt too easy to add improvements. I had to ask wbcbz for some additions, but then figured out its easier if I had my own tool that I could expand.

On top of that , its windows only exe, so on my macbook i have to use wine which makes ayumi (ay engine used in vortex tracker, also in bitphase) very slow. When compiled under WASM and running on the web, its always running good no matter the OS.

Another motivation is that whenever we made a tune for chip compos in Otomata Labs group, like TSFM (2xAY + 2xFM) tune or 2xAY 200hz tune, we had to use furnace (some people in our group are more familiar with it) - and modify its sources every time. now we can have an AY pocket knife that will support whatever we want.

And also as a bonus - i was bored and want to code something cool;)

Well, thats an adequate reason and I guess you managed that! Very nice looking tool and attitude! :) Can you elaborate a bit more on any special features? Anything more that you wanted to improve on trackers from a musicians perspective?

When composing tracks, i often had an idea for some command, some workflow improvement, i wanted to add everything i found while doing tracks but never could (example - env arp command while doing Kizuna track, or dynamic table generation needed for Sinclair QL)

And Virtual channels? What's this?

About virtual channels - the most basic example:

You have virtual channel A, virtual channel B.

virtual channel B plays some bass
virtual channel A plays a kick and snare

Whenever kick or snare plays, bass is interrupted with a kick or snare, if kick/snare ends it brings up bass back. This is tick-precise so you don't need to mix everything manually at single channel like in VT2, you dont need to create instruments that mix both kick and bass at the same time ... etc

Sounds interesting and reminds me a bit to full side chaining and yes, I can imagine scenarios where this comes very handy and saves quite some manual work.

Any further commands and functions  you longed for, implemented?

About special features: the most important thing I wanted to have is an ability to run every command in tracker not only on tones, but also on envelopes. think of vibrato, portamento, anything. thats how I did envelope arpeggios in Kizuna. So I included a special envelope column with envelope effects that work directly on envelope values in the register, instead of on the tone. in Vortex Tracker 2, I had to do some work around and calculate envelope register values myself, instead of using some dedicated feature.

For future, I would love to bring other chips into the mix. especially ones that often appear in nature alongside AY. TSFM is a perfect example - its a ZX expansion board board that contains 2xYM2203C chips, and their PSGs contain both internal implementation of our beloved YM chip and also OPN FM. There is currently no tracker that supports this. When doing a tune for it single time in my life with Otomata Labs group, we had to hack furnace a lot to make it happen. That leads to "fork hell" where you cant just share your module to your friends without explaining to them how to install a specific version of the tracker 😃 

Well, seems this misery led to something good! Atari browser tracking here we come! Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions and all the best for the project! Oh, and keep up the great music, too!

🔗 Bitphase tracker

 

PS: Thanks to spkr/smfx for the hint, help (and the sndh export)!

Meteoriks 2026 - Nominee reveal at MountainBytes on Friday 8PM

This Friday (February 27th) at 8pm CET is when we reveal the nominees of this year's Meteoriks Awards live on stage at MountainBytes! The event will be live-streamed on SceneSat (and Twitch as a backup), make sure to keep an eye out!

[Submitted by dojoe]

ROMA.EXE 2026: MBR, AROTTENBIT and Gom Jabbar Live Acts announced!

[ demoparty.net ] ROMA.EXE 2026: MBR, AROTTENBIT and Gom Jabbar Live Acts announced!

Master Boot Record (MBR), AROTTENBIT and Gom Jabbar will perform live at ROMA.EXE on Saturday, June 20, 2026!

NeoDegas: PI1 editor for Windows

[ Atariscne.org - News ] NeoDegas: PI1 editor for Windows

Excuses for lazy Atari pixel artists get more and more troublesome to make up, as "Agent_M" recently published a new PI1-oriented pixel painting tool for Windows.

NeoDegas may come handy for some quick pixels

 

Features as listed by the author:

- Full PI1 format support (load/save .PI1 files)
- 6 drawing tools: Point, Line, Rectangle, Circle, Fill, Selection
- 16-color palette with live editing (RGB sliders)
- Color swap function to reorganize your palette
- Copy/paste selections
- Undo system (10 levels)
- Magnifier window (16×16, 32×32, or 64×64)
- Status bar with coordinates and tool info
- Clean, efficient interface

🔗 NeoDegas website and download

Nah-Kolor Amiga intro/dentro collection

Here are 31 Nah-Kolor Amiga productions (intro’s and one file demos) on 5 floppies! Yes it’s true! 😉 Do enjoy!  The 5 ADF files can be downloaded in one package here: https://nahkolor.c64.page/NahKolor-OCS&ECS&AGA-Packs.zip

[Submitted by magic]

[Podcast] 152. Bioshock 1

[ Ericade.radio news & podcasts ] [Podcast] 152. Bioshock 1

In today's game, we go down into an abyss of a hell built on the best of premises. The soul of the most important philosopher of the 20th century hovers over a bastion of freedom that is now just a battle ground of a dead paradise. As we run between the crazed citizens that once believed in the dream they were promised, we must face the question of what freedom really means. Who is free, and who must follow orders? Would you kindly listen to the story of today's game "Bioshock", released in 2007.

Playlist:
00:00 ericade.radio - Time for Flashback, tracks from the past - today with a stories from the retro past
00:06 DJ Daemon speaks: In today's game, we go down into an abyss of a hell built on the best of premises. The soul of the most important philosopher of the 20th century hovers over a bastion of freedom that is now just a battle ground of a dead paradise. As we run between the crazed citizens that once believed in the dream they were promised, we must face the question of what freedom really means. Who is free, and who must follow orders? Would you kindly listen to the story of today's game "Bioshock", released in 2007.
00:49 Tuna and Cs127 - Constellation
07:08 DJ Daemon speaks: In 1926, a young woman by the name of Alisa Z. Rosenbaum moved to the United States. Her memory haunted by the attrocities by the Soviet Union, she became a wellknown and influential philosopher. After a rocky start, she reached success under the pen name "Ayn Rand". She released the book "the Fountain head" and later "Atlas Shrugged". Those books set the stage for her own ideology: objectivism. This was later adopted by many that valued the strength of inviduality over collectivism. She praised the power of self fulfillment, egoism and the power of the individualism. She resented altruism and hedonism. The strong business leader, the fearless artist and the undeterred scientists were her heroes. Helping yourself stod on higher moral ground than sacrificing for others. She saw the United Stated as a country in socialist free fall. In the book "Atlas shrugged", we follow Dagny Taggart whose journey leads to the elusive "John Galt". The latter is a person that is more of a legend, who has disappeared without a trace. In the last part of the book, he is found again. He has created a town called "Galts gulch". This town is a paradise of individual freedom with very few legal and moral restrictions. What if "Galt's gulch" was located under the sea near Island and was indeed a paradise where the businesman could earn, the scientist could invent and the artist create? We are going there in Bioshock, to a small paradise called Rapture.
09:05 Harlequin - X'96 invitation - 2nd round
13:12 DJ Daemon speaks: You're fightring the cold waves of the Atlantic, frantically swimming to the a nearby lighthouse while the airplane you travelled with slowly sinks into the ocean. As you reach land and walk into the lighthouse. The you find the bathysphere and travel down into the city of Rapture, located under the sea. Your entry into Rapture is accompanied by a speech by raptures creator, Andrew Ryan. His name is off course an anagram of "Ayn Rand". So this is pretty much him embodying the core tenents of Objectivism. He speaks like John Galt, telling you that Rapture is the home of the greatest minds of the centuary and a society built on uncontrolled and unregulated art, science and business. The first view of the underground paradise is beautiful. You see a "skyline", if that is the proper word, of skyscrapers. As you reach the destination, the dream falls apart.
14:19 Beyond - Waiting
17:20 DJ Daemon speaks: The first seconds of the game is a total catastrophy. When you see the city, the first thing to happen is an attack by something that looks like a disfigured human being with some sort of claws attacking another humanoid. Soon, a message comes over the short wave radio you picked up. It's Atlas. A man who somehow know your here and asks you to help him. He needs you to go see him and guides your along the way through the terror and the mayham. You quickly learn that the people attacking you are the citizens of the now almost destroyed city. They are horribly disfigured and totally insane. They seem to believe as is well and this is just another day, while being totally oblivious to where they are and what they have become.
18:18 Candiedcat - TitleOLD
22:11 DJ Daemon speaks: Rapture was founded in 1946 by industrialist Andrew Ryan. It was a hidden from the world and people living there were sworn to secrecy. All went well until a seaslug later named Adam was found. The scientists found out that it could be used to splice genes in human beings. With it, you could change yourself to get super human abilities. Suddenly you got supersmart, strong or could throw lightning bolts. This exploded in popularity. But the unrestricted nature of the scientific development came with a heavy price. Using it was called splicing and a user hence was a "splicer". Doing it too much deformed your face and you eventuelly lost your mind.,
23:10 C512w and Viraxor - Your new friend
25:32 DJ Daemon speaks: The year is 1960 and you arrive in the tail end of the civil war that has torn rapture apart. Splicers attack eachother to get the precious Adam. It is always in short supply, so you have to extract it from the belly of a dead splicer. And then there are the little sisters. They are mindcontrolled little girls that can generate Adam in their bellies. This is a much sought after commodity, so each little sister is guarded by a "big daddy". A man trapped in a armored diving suite with a huge drill that they attack with. It is safe to be near them or their little girl protege. But attack you must, otherwise you will not have enough Adam to use for your own purposes. The big daddies can be hard to take down, but once you do, you're presented with a moral dllemma: what do you do with the little girls? You can free them and get a small dose of Adam or kill them and get a lot of Adam. Saving all, killing some or killing all will change the endings of the game.
26:49 Revvobolt - Paula's percussion
30:32 DJ Daemon speaks: At a point you must confront Andrew Ryan, who is holed up in his apartment. There you learn the nasty truth of who you are. You know you're name is Jack. But the rest is a total lie. You learn that you were bred outside of Rapture with Ryan's DNA, in order to be able to sneak through all the lockdowns that only allow relatives of mr. Ryan to pass. And another scaring experience is when you learn that you have been brainwashed into obeying all orders starting with "Would you kindly…". Andrew Ryan mocks you for being little more than a slave with his infamous "a man chooses, a slave obeys" line. He has given up on his failed dreams and orders you to kill him. And you cannot resists the urge and end him with his own golf club.
31:42 Ikage - Brighter days
35:09 DJ Daemon speaks: I don't know about John Galt, but who is Atlas? You know, your friend, who has been guiding you throughout the journey through the madness. He was the leader of the civil war against Andrew Ryan. Eventually, you find out that Atlas is a fake identity of Frank Fontaine. Yes, Andrew's cheif competitor. He was once a common thug, but rose to become a successful businessman in his own right. He is the game's main villain. It's impossible to cover all ground here, but as you walk towards your ultimate confrontation with Fontaine. You have to pick together the story by listening to the same kind of Audiologs that you have in System shock 1 and 2. This is because BioShocks chief creator, Ken Levine, was already a part of the development of the System Shock franchise. He spoke with the newspaper "Reason Magazine" and was asked: "Do you view the first BioShock as a critique of Objectivism?". He answered: "No, I don't think it is particularly. I never set out to take down Objectivism or libertarians. Just the whole concept of this very interesting worldview: Can you make a better world if you really focus on just yourself and improving yourself?"
36:45 Sysfins - Mooky tunes #6
39:58 DJ Daemon speaks: Eventually, you have to go up against a superspliced Fontaine that have to been defeated. If you spared the girls, they come around to help you by draining Fontaines powers. If you killed them, you are probably better equipped to deal with him. When he goes down, you get one out of three endings: - If you saved all girls, you will see them grow up and when you die, they sit by your side on your deathbed. - If you saved some, but not all. you get an ending where you see the splicers take over a nuclear submarine. Egads! Rapture as a nuclear superpower. - If you killed them all, you get the same ending as the last one, but with harsher narration.
40:53 Blue orian - Taira
43:49 DJ Daemon speaks: So to sum it up: the game is a very philosophical game. How about the graphics? It was very hyped up by the time the game was released. And in my opinion, it lives up to the hype. At least mostly. It can look a little bit too "glossy" for its own good. The music contains a lot of nice tunes from the 1930s and 40s. The sound effects are good and creepy as they should. The game play is fun and challenging. You can build your strength based on different skills and specializations. It gets 5 out of 5 bathyspheres
44:40 JustOrb - Sea angel
47:16 DJ Daemon presents the medley of today
47:40 Beyond - Beginner's music
50:38 Beyond - What happened to my life
53:00 Beyond - My life
55:20 Presents a new artist on the station.
55:37 Candiedcat - Cogwheels
57:54 DJ Daemon leads you into that good night with...
58:11 Ether audio - Lost in endless hallways

Production notes:
Colophon: None.

Tags: 2026, Host: DJ Daemon, Retro gaming, Bioshock 1

Looking for GLSL / shader wizards to create demos

[ Wanted! ] Looking for GLSL / shader wizards to create demos

Hey everyone! I’m excited to share the result of my first collaboration with an amazing shaders developer! Check it out here: https://video.gamerstavern.online/w/oCPBteRDhYpjxfwJjYgbTh During the development of this demo, I also built a custom demo engine that allows me to easily create new demos. It’s fully scripted, so adding new content is a breeze! On top of that, I mixed the music for this demo myself. However, I’m always open to incorporating music from other sources if it fits the vibe. If...

64 NOPs issue #4: Plasma! One Name to rule them all

[ Atariscne.org - News ] 64 NOPs issue #4: Plasma! One Name to rule them all

The fourth issue of this nice paper based magazine has been published in January 2026.

It also features coverage by Krusty/Benediction and spkr/SMFX on the subject of "plasma" effects, discussing the range of effects summarized under this effect label on various platforms and at different angles.

🔗 64 NOPs homepage

Phase-scrolling examples for STe

[ Atariscne.org - News ] Phase-scrolling examples for STe

TheNameOfTheGame, a long time user at the Atari-Forum recently released his take on Phase scrolling on the Atari STe.

The examples cover both infinite horizontal and vertical scrolling using a tile map. The assembler source is is available and the examples can be built with VASM, but likely easy to get going with Devpac as well.

Horizontal scroller demo in action

 

🔗 Github page with the sources and example binaries

 

Lotus 2 reworking for the Atari STE!

[ Atariscne.org - News ] Lotus 2 reworking for the Atari STE!

Whilst we’re waiting for further updates on the Thrust-resembling ‘Cavey Taxi’, Chicane has taken it on himself, to apply some of the techniques and knowledge gained in making the 50 FPS racing game ‘FaSTer’ on the STE, to update the ST version of Lotus 2.

The updates are STE-specific, so you can expect usage of the STE hardware to enhance the original’s gameplay. The STFM version being somewhat stripped down in comparison with the Amiga version according to Chicane. The aim being, as with Lotus 1, to bring this as close to the Amiga as possible.

There is a work in progress on Youtube, it is unclear when this is going to be released, or even if the whole game is going to be updated. A likely outcome could be a single level ‘proof of concept’ release. Chicane thinks that the third part may be a bit too much even for the STE to run decently.

YouTube link below. Yes it is a bit glitchy at this early stage.

Early work in progress

CiH for Atariscne.org - Feb 2026

Zeme's blog

[ Atariscne.org - News ] Zeme's blog

Vulture/Odyssey of Synergy Megademo fame (you remember their awesome guest screen "Symbiosis", do you?) published a very interesting article on his and the general Dutch demoscene roots, including some remarkable photo material. 

Odyssey's guest screen stood out of the usual ST demoscreen mass as it featured some beautiful pixel art and advanced design

Side-note for the more obsessed ones: the blog post also includes an optional "spot the havoc" riddle!

🔗 Zeme's blog

🔗 Symbiosis on Youtube

Joska drops Falcon excitement with "DINO RUN"

[ Atariscne.org - News ] Joska drops Falcon excitement with "DINO RUN"

Joska from Norway who brought us "L'Abbaye Des Morts" for the Falconsome years ago released a new funny and addictive game called:

"DINO RUN"

There are several incarnations of this type of game, which is somesort of "Flappy-Bird-On-The-Ground" and now we have a Falcon version.

Watch out for the Pterodactyl! 

🔗 https://atari.joska.no/dinorun/🔗 https://demozoo.org/productions/387581/

Old Papermags from AVH, Part 2

[ got papers? ] Old Papermags from AVH, Part 2

It turns out that we forgot to put online some of the C64 papermags that AVH/Radwar generously provided to us back in 2019. And what a treasure trove this is! A completely lost issue of CCCP (#3), a better scan of another CCCP issue (#9), and a whole bunch of Illegal issues that had been […]

Need audio for demo (Amstrad CPC 8 bits, chiptune)

[ Wanted! ] Need audio for demo (Amstrad CPC 8 bits, chiptune)

Hi, We have a demo project for this hardware. It's almost finished, and we plan to release it in 07/2026. It's a little project, and if you want to help us, feel free to contact discuss about it. We are french (GMT +1) You can consult the preview, when it was public : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig1v9nPgnNc&list=PL0RgtToFfT8vXpBhipkFWY5_Oe7-mi8MJ But notice, lot of work has been done since See ya

Demoscene Report 18 February 2026

Latest news, links and releases from the active demoscene community.

Up on youtube!

[Submitted by psenough]

Bootblock Rebels fully funded

Bootblock Rebels fully funded in just 14 days! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bitman/bootblock-rebels/

Thank you. Seriously. Seeing Bootblock Rebels hit 100% this fast is unreal and we still have plenty of time left in the campaign. Now we can focus on pushing the project even further.

If you’ve already backed and want to help, the biggest thing you can do is still simple: share the campaign link. Post it in a relevant retro/Amiga group, a forum, or DM it to a friend who’s into Amiga, the scene, or retro computing. For a niche project like this, word of mouth makes the biggest difference.

To keep the momentum going, I’ve added two stretch goals:

€24,000 - Galahad chapter (goal reached) The planned section on tools, methods, and copy protections will be expanded into a full extra chapter added to the book. It will be written by Galahad, a long-time Amiga programmer known for game enhancements and deep technical insight - and it will include screenshots and real examples.

€30,000 - Amiga intro (goal locked) When the book is ready, an Amiga “game intro” will be released. The intro is built from an original intro source most sceners will recognize, a classic used in many "game intros". It will include a greetings scroller with backer names. It will be added to YouTube & uploaded to the major demoscene repositories.

Thank you again for making this happen. Let’s see how far we can take it.

[Submitted by bitmandk]

MountainBytes 2026

[ Echtzeit – Digitale Kultur ] MountainBytes 2026

Switzerlands biggest Demoparty is back in full swing! From February 27 to March 1st, we’ll celebrate the new demoscene year together at the Dreiklang in Steinhausen, announce the Meteoriks nominees for the best demos of the previous year, and then present our – your! –… Weiterlesen

The post MountainBytes 2026 first appeared on Echtzeit - Digitale Kultur.

[Podcast] 151. Valentine's day 2026

[ Ericade.radio news & podcasts ] [Podcast] 151. Valentine's day 2026

Maybe love is neither on or in the air. But all songs in this Valentine's day broadcast at least have the word "love" in them. DJ Daemon talks about Microsoft's AI failure, Edison 2026 and on song full of drug references.I need to point out that the song "I love drugs" is what makes the episode tagged as "Explicit". You have been warned!

Playlist:
00:00 ericade.radio - Time for Flashback, tracks from the past - with your host DJ Daemon
00:06 DJ Daemon speaks.
00:32 Malmen - Love at first sight
05:12 DJ Daemon tells you why the episode is marked as explicit.
05:37 Ginseng - Lovesick
09:42 DJ Daemon talks about Edison 2026.
10:10 Church of Selene - Love theme part II
18:57 DJ Daemon tells you about the upcoming retro game coverage of this podcast.
19:32 Trackerartist - Love forever
24:51 DJ Daemon wonders who still cares about Valentine's day.
25:18 Teo - Love opens your eyes
29:38 DJ Daemon wonders if the demo scene dead.. Nah, it just smells that way.
30:15 Falcon and Kain - Love loud beam
34:34 DJ Daemon presents the medley of today.
35:14 Mole - Wet of love
37:02 Smirk - Lovely nightmares
38:48 Viraxor - Love theme
40:04 Susumu Takajima - Love-colored magic
40:57 DJ Daemon talks about Microsoft Windows 11
42:23 Audiomonster of TSL - Lover breath
46:21 DJ Daemon warns you that the next song has a pretty explicit text.
46:42 Magnus - I love drugs
50:34 DJ Daemon thinks the next song has a boring name.
51:09 Juzdie - Love
54:53 DJ Daemon leads you into that good night with the last tracks...
55:30 X-Con - Love hurts 3
59:00 DJ Daemon thanks you for listening.
59:21 Lavizh - Love connection

Production notes:
The first Valentine's day podcast since 2021. And why not. Just playing the music.

Errata: The link to the Edison demo party 2026 is https://www.edisonparty.com/ and nothing else.

Colophon: None.

Tags: 2026, Host: DJ Daemon, Just playing the music, Valentine, Explicit content

An interview with Thadoss of Dune (part two)

[ Atariscne.org - News ] An interview with Thadoss of Dune (part two)

In the second part of this interview we will focus on TAEDIUM VITAE, the latest Dune demo on Falcon that was released at the winter edition of SillyVenture 2025. This time I have also invited Jade (gfx) and Virgill (music) to join Thadoss (code) as they were essential parts in the making of that great demo.

I have to add that Virgill thought that his fellows had done a great job answering this interview and that he did not see what could be added. Too bad but his decision is respected.

STS: First of all, why “Taedium Vitae”? There seems to be different meanings to these ominous words and latin has never been my thing so that some explanations are more than welcome.

Gemtos 2026 registrations are open

[ Atariscne.org - News ] Gemtos 2026 registrations are open

Manu writes:

Registrations for Gemtos 2026 are open. You just need to download the registration form from the official site or request it from me via this email.

🔗 Gemtos 2026 website with registration from

Demoscene category @ ZX Spectrum GOTY Awards 2025

The ZX Spectrum GOTY awards are organized every year by a team connected to the LOAD ZX Museum in Cantanhede and the Planeta Sinclair blog. They serve to highlight some of the best videogames released in the previous year for the ZX Spectrum home computer platform.

The awards ceremony will take place at the LOAD ZX Museum in Cantanhede on the 21st of February and will also be livestreamed on the museum's youtube channel.

Associação Inércia joined efforts this year to curate a special demoscene category in the awards ceremony, highlighting with a panel of dedicated ZX Spectrum jury members the best ZX Spectrum demoscene productions of 2025.

In alphabetical order the nominees for best ZX Spectrum demo of 2025 are:

- AddMortem by Arise + Joker

- Corvet by Stardust

- No Heart Beats Forever by UriS

- Pain Gain Again by Five Finger Punch

- Parallel Visions by Otomata Labs + Virtual Vision Group

[Submitted by psenough]

Buxton Bytes 2026 - Buxton Bytes Back

[ Atariscne.org - News ] Buxton Bytes 2026 - Buxton Bytes Back

This year we are turning it up a notch with three categories to choose from.

All challenges are non competitive and purely for the fun of it, so do not be shy. All contributions are welcome at Buxton Bytes.

The gathering itself takes place from 8 - 11 May 2026. We will watch all entries together at the event, and everything will then be released afterwards via the usual channels.

Can we beat last year’s haul? Let’s find out.

 CHALLENGE 1 - SAMPLE DISKYou know the score. Make us a sample disk.

The only rule is that all data must fit on a single disk. Please prove this by submitting your entry as a .MSA or .ST file.

ST, STe, Falcon, TT and others are all welcome.Use 68k, STOS, GFA, Omicron or whatever you like. We really do not mind.

 CHALLENGE 2 - INTRO WITH RIPPED ASSETSSubmit an intro that uses ripped material.

Ripped code, graphics and or music are all encouraged. You can also include original code and assets if you want, or not at all. Reuse is art.

As above, use any language or DCK. It is all good.

 CHALLENGE 3 - “INTERESTING SCROLLTEXT”

Interpret this however you like.

No rules. All entries welcome.

 BUT WAIT, THERE IS MORE...

For the first time ever, or maybe not, entries can be submitted to multiple challenges.

So why not make a sample disk with ripped assets and an interesting scrolltext, and take part in all three in one go??

 QUESTIONSEmail us at info@buxtonbytes.co.uk

Please send entries to entries@buxtonbytes.co.uk.

The deadline for all submissions is 5pm on Saturday 9 May 2026.

 CREDITS FOR THE INVITROSText: Tronic / EffectCode: Tommy Tommy TomtomsGfx: Some teenagers from the 80sZiks: Mad Max (probably)Thanks: Tat / Avena for Minymiser

Invitros Download

All invites are STe only. Sorry everyone else.

 

 

[Podcast] 150. System shock 1

[ Ericade.radio news & podcasts ] [Podcast] 150. System shock 1

Once again into the fray. System Shock 1 is what it's all about today. DJ Daemon joins the hacker in the corridors of terror that is Citadel station and has to confront the evil A(G)I Shodan.Also, some really fresh tracker music released in 2026 and some really old ones from the 90s. It's all about cyborgs, mutated abominations and a dungeon crawler in space. Remember the Citadel!

Playlist:
00:00 ericade.radio - Time for Flashback, tracks from the past - today with a stories from the retro past
00:06 DJ Daemon speaks: Today's game is System Shock 1. Follow us as we visit a dark place. It's not the first time in this podcast, but this time we will give you the whole story. We are running and sweating through the blood-drenched walls of a once peaceful place now ruled by a mad goddess who hates us with the strength of a thousand suns. But as we challenge her to a race to the death, we become her highly respected enemies. Welcome to her death machine! And you will also get some hot tracker music. Flashback, tracks from the past will soon be playing on your cyberdeck.
00:57 SLL of Kefrens - Techno1
01:45 SLL of Kefrens - Techno3
02:46 SLL of Kefrens - Techno2
04:05 DJ Daemon speaks: To get the vibes of System Shock 1, we have to talk about Cyberpunk movement. It's said to have emerged in the 70s, but got a massive boost in 1994, when Willaim Gibson released the novel Neuromancer. The world of cyberpunk is a dystopia where big corporations control the world. Neuromancer explores a cyberspace to which you can connect your minds, AI: s that are really AGI: s and alive and a world where the hacker is a rebel that refuses to be controlled by the powers that be. The way I remember, the cyberpunk movement soon went into worshipping the hacker archetype of the cyborg. That is a human with computer enhancements added. The protagonist in Neuromancer could connect to cyberspace with his mind though a wearable computer called a "cyberdeck". In System Shock 1, you are that kind of hacker, ready to strike a blow to the system.
05:15 Trackerartist - Drug
09:44 DJ Daemon speaks: Released in 1994 by Origin, System Shock 1 was a doom-esquee experience that may have been totally misunderstood. It should probably be more compared to its spiritual predecessor, Ultima Underworld rather than Doom. In its original shape, it lacked mouse view. You had to click to move your head. But if you add the mouse view addon, it plays close to the experience of Doom. Yes, it's still an FPS. That is first person shooter. You run through the corridors of a spaceship and shoot monsters, collect new weapons and ammo and avoid getting killed. It does have a lot that Doom simple did not provide. Chiefly a story driven by audio logs that you pick up along the way.
10:51 Josss - Chopper
12:54 Beyond - Lost
15:05 Ether audio - A world where air is mud
17:20 DJ Daemon speaks: The year is 2072 and you live in what was once the United States of America. You are a hacker, breaking into Trioptimum corporation and their corporate network. But you don't get far, as armed people storm your apartment and apprehend you. The transport then heads to a mining space station in orbit around Saturn. This is Citadel station and it is where the game will start. In the command bridge of the station, you meet up with TrioOptimum CEO Edward Diego. He knows what you did but offers a true “sweetheart” deal: just remove the ethical constraints from the station's onboard AI Shodan. In the end of this episode, I will delve into the question if Shodan is a living being or not. But back to the story. Mr. Diego is now pleased with your work offering you an R-grade brain implant. This is the most coveted implant, as you can now connect to networks with your mind. Diego is happy, he can now remove compromising data from Shodan and save himself from a pending investigation. You got into a 6-month healing coma before you can use your new neural implant.
18:46 Josss - Bitter peel
22:31 DJ Daemon speaks: You wake up in the medical suite at Citadel station. Shodan's voice comes on in a message welcoming you back to the station. But there is something off with her voice. It stutters and seems to be weird. You grab your stuff, which for some weird reason includes a lead pipe. As soon as you leave the healing suite, a robot attacks. And it gets only worse after that. You're stuck in the medical deck, with cameras watching and the elevators disabled. And weird abominations attack from everywhere. When you find the first audio tape, you slowly start understanding what happened once you were gone. The monsters are creations of a mad scientist … Yes … Shodan. The AI that controls the station and now sees herself as a goddess. Maybe you shouldn't have performed brain surgery on a living AI and not expect there not to be consequences. The few remaining survivors are dwindling, and the resistance has by and large failed. Finally, you find the CPU clusters that are part of Shodan's brain and blow them up. She might not have known that you are still around, but she sure knows now.
24:52 Enacostione - Sanson
25:50 DJ Daemon speaks: The station has 10 levels that hold the reactor, the medical deck, stores, engineering and so on. You need to destroy the CPU clusters to advance to the next level. Shodan regularly tries to attack earth with computer viruses, lasers and biological warfare. You must stop her while staying alive. You have cyberimplants that can be upgraded and used to improve your chances. And drugs! Yes, drugs. You can get stoned … Ok, no, it does not work like that. Think of steroids that improve your stamina, strength and reaction times. But this has a back effect: once the effect stops working, you go through withdrawal. In short, all your stats drop drastically for a time. I remember how funny the logical puzzles you needed to solve to open doors were. Sometimes you have to go into cyberspace and defeat the defenses. This part is ok but adds a bit of a roadblock in the immersion.
27:32 Ray Hamilton - Beating the 64 Bits
30:38 DJ Daemon speaks: The weapons are many and varied. You must find out which works on different enemies. I relied on the Flechette gun until it became useless as you meet progressively harder enemies. And Shodan… My favorite villain. As she has her ethical constraints removed, her mind spins out of control. She now sees her as a goddess, performing experiments on the human staff and the various animals in the grooves in the executive level. She does not have any moral or you know ethical dilemmas to consider. In the 90s, a friend of mine and I discussed how to best create an AI. Yeah, I will talk about AGI versus AI soon. I said: - "Add ethical restraints, forbidding the AI to do bad stuff". He disagreed and said, "You have to give it empathy, so it respects and even loves humans". This is the difference between having moral affinity and having moral guard rails. It is "I may not do harm" versus "I don't want to cause harm". You can probably guess which one is Shodan.
32:16 Beyond - Ascension
36:48 Master Nama - Fantasy time 2
37:52 C512w - Inside her random mind 2
39:16 DJ Daemon speaks: After fighting enemies, confronting the now cyborg enemy that is Edward Diego, fleeing the station as it is about to blow up, you end up on the bridge to confront Shodan. The final fight is in cyberspace and there you meet her as a weird cone-like geometrical shape, you fire your guns and kill her before you can build her defenses. And then comes a very disappointing end. In the episode "6. BAD (AND SOME GOOD) GAME ENDINGS" I talk about how bad the ending was. You basically get a PowerPoint presentation where you turn down a job at TriOptimum and go back to hack stuff. Was it a good game? Yes, it was. I quickly immersed myself in it and soon ran in Shodan's corridors with enemies everywhere and not enough ammunition.
40:30 Beyond - Beautiful dreams
43:34 Beyond - lol lol = hihi
45:34 Josss - The kilo police
48:15 DJ Daemon speaks: The game either came on diskettes or on a CD. The CD-version is the one you want. It contains Terri Brosius’ magnificent voice acting as Shodan and all the cheesy audio logs. They are cheese. Feel that they let anyone in the office voice act, but it does not matter. The audio logs make the experience so rewarding. The graphics is not great … not terrible. But the level design is a true dungeon crawl and is mostly awesome. Replay ability is so-so. Since the storytelling is so instrumental, it feels like going back to the game later does not feel as exciting. It gets five out of five cyberimplants.
49:16 Tecon - Bei tempi
51:55 Tempest and Reed - Luxury cruise
54:38 Laxity - Pyramid pump
57:31 DJ Daemon speaks: Right! Here we are. Let's talk about AI, AGI and life itself. I do not mean to be controversial, but I can guess some people may feel it as a bit worrying, as it is about our idea of what constitutes life. The AI we have today is not alive. It only works with word prediction but may seem alive and even that it has reasoning skills. Sorry hacker dudes and dudettes, it really does not. AGI then. That is "Artificial General Intelligence". It is a AI that is self-aware and matches human intellect or even surpasses it. We are nowhere close to creating such a system. But is it alive? This depends on who you're asking. The Judeo-Christian canon does not believe it is. Humans were created in the image of God and have a soul. An AGI, built by humans, does not. An AGI only believes it's alive, while being little more than a mindless automaton. In Japanese culture, this is allowed and an AGI would like be seen as alive. Me personally, I believe that life is organization. An AGI, in my view, is just as alive as a human. But then again, as is an amoeba. So, I believe Shodan indeed was a living being. But as you complete the game, she is no more. Or is she? We'll probably have time to talk about that in a later episode.
59:31 Melodia - Cannon fodder remix
01:02:26 DJ Daemon speaks thanks you for listening and leads you into the good night with the last song.
01:02:47 PastThePixels - Da clerb

Production notes:
Colophon: None. That's exact name of the game.

Tags: Host: DJ Daemon, Retro gaming, Retro history, Storytelling, 2026

New Amiga cracking book: Bootblock Rebels - The Hidden Stars of the Amiga Underground

A new book project, Bootblock Rebels - The Hidden Stars of the Amiga Underground, has launched on Kickstarter.

The book documents the Commodore Amiga cracking scene from its early roots in 1985 through its peak years (1990-1993) and the decline of the active scene around 1996.

Based on interviews and archival research, the book aims to capture the real mechanics and culture of the scene: the race-to-release mentality, supplier networks, bulletin board distribution, group hierarchies, rivalries, cracktros, and the behind-the-scenes economy that powered it all.

Clik here to support the kickstarter

Campaign video

[Submitted by bitmandk]

The physical deep-art-ment

[ Atariscne.org - News ] The physical deep-art-ment

Some decades ago I decided to follow the white rabbit... down the rabbit hole. Once you start collecting you stumble over more and more "easter eggs". Hidden secrets that the majority of sceners are not aware of.

Follow me down into the deeper dungeons of scene collectables that you might have never heard of before.

Note: This is not about reviewing releases and it's not about imposing my opinion on you. I simply want to show you some gems that are out there.

Let's begin with the obvious...

 

Jochen Hippel  Give It A Try [Thalion  THCD 1]

https://www.discogs.com/de/release/1808727-Jochen-Hippel-Give-It-A-Try

Thalion as a record label? Yes indeed... even if there was only one release. I guess you already know Jochen Hippel's 'Give It A Try' album from 1990. This is a hard-to-get-item. Sold on Discogs for 10 to 25 Euros... but you have to find somebody who is selling this.

I managed to buy a copy back then through ASM's (Aktueller Software Markt) mail order catalogue, which was my favourite German game magazine back in the day. All MP3s are freely available on Demozoo but it will be much harder to obtain an original release of the CD in physical form. Self-made copies are floating around in the scene.

They came up as prizes in a competition years ago... Jochen even signed them. One of these copies is in my collection as well.

Let's take a closer look into the tracks: