disc.font,8 «ac»«» «» «c1» *** THE DISKMAGS REVIEWS ***«» «ac»«» «c3»BY ZEROX/GODS«» «as»«» «c2»Last time I reviewed mags was many years ago. Infact I guess the magscene was at its best back in 1995 with so many «c5»great mags «c2»around; like «c5»RAW, ROM and Upstream. «c2»During December 1994 till February 1995 there were 12 good mags to be reviewed. Nevertheless, it's time to review the best mags around nowadays...«» «as»«» This time I'll review the following diskmags:«» «» «c5»Devotion #1 (End Of July)«» The EuroChart #41 (End Of September)«» ShowTime #15 (Middle Of November)«» «as»«» «c2»Latest news is that Devotion was declared dead two days ago but the EuroChart 42 will be out the next days!«» «» Last time I was accused of being too soft, so this time I MIGHT be a bit harder. I'll be as objective as I can even though I got friends working on all the mentioned mags. But remember that the reviews are only my personal opinion. The reviews are not ment as bad critics. Infact I hope it will be constructive and give the makers of the diskmags some hints for what they might improve. Ok, now it's time for the reviews...«» «» «c1»DEVOTION #1«» «» «c6»Code By: «c4»Mr.Tickle/DarkAge«» «c6»Gfx By: «c4»Adam/DCS«» «c6»Music By: «c4»Teis/Spaceballs, Tecon/Planet Jazz and Reed/Damage.«» «» «c6»Main-Editors: «c4»Darkus/Haujobb & Magic/Nah-Kolor«» «» «c6»Cliparts: «c4»Optic/DCS&Talent«» «» «c6»Title Picture: «c4»Anthony/ex.DreamDealers«» «» «c6»NO intro«» «» «c2»Devotion is something so rare as a new international amiga diskmag, and therefore I was looking forward reading it. Darkus has for years been working on his magplans (including projects as UnderWorld), so I was pleased that he finally succeeded!«» «» «c6»Code:«» «» «c2»The first thing that comes to mind, and that is different from other mags around, is that the code makes it possible for not only ordinary AGA users, but also others by using a graphicscard, to actually read the mag. So this is quite extraordinary. The mag also got a clipart-routine, and it's system friendly. Instead of the usual page-counter, Devotion got a slider showing how much of the article that remains. It has only two arrows, one to the left and one to the right. No up or down buttons. But then again, you can use the keyboard to go from one article to the next without going back to the menu. Apart from that, it looks like most other mags. It's easy to operate. Nothing more to add really, as the mag hasn't any special features I noticed.«» «» «c7»I give the code 7,5-8 out of 10.«» «» «c6»Gfx:«» «» «c2»The panels were done by Adam/DCS. They're quite ok. Nothing amazing, like in the last issue of EC for instance, but not bad either. I liked the panels anyway. Adam also did the fonts, and they were pretty good and readable. Also many cool background pictures were included. Optic/DCS did the cliparts. As usual he did a good job. I really enjoyed them. But there were definately too few cliparts in this issue. It was hard finding them in the articles. When it comes to the title picture, I can't say I liked it. I hope a better one will be used in the next issue, in addition to lots of new cliparts.«» «» «c7»I give the gfx 7 out of 10.«» «» «c6»Music:«» «» «c2»The first issue of Devotion offers 3 modules! The first module is done by Teis/Spaceballs. I don't know why this one was chosen to be the first one as it's definately not diskmag music. Teis has done lots of modules for intros and demos, and they fit perfect there. But I don't think his module for Devotion should be used in any diskmag. The second module done by Tecon/Planet Jazz was quite ok. After a quiet opening the module could be considered as typical diskmag music. Also the third module was pretty good. The Laid Back Funk by Reed/Damage is good diskmag music after my opinion. At least the 3 modules offer some variation.«» «» «c7»I give the music 7 out of 10.«» «» «c6»Contents:«» «» «c2»The most important aspect of a mag, is always the articles! There were 64 files included, which is quite much nowadays. But when you remove about 10 introduction & editorial files, the 6 chart-files etc. then there aren't that many articles. But then again, there were around 45 articles or so which is ALOT compared to any international diskmag! So the staff should get credit for that. I also found quite many of the articles enjoyable, especially some articles from Wade, Darkhawk, Alvin, Makke and Darkus were interesting. Perhaps there weren't that much to read in BYTES, but quite many interesting aspects about the current scene. I would like to read more about the demo-scene, but at least there were lots of stuff for us editors. The bad parts of the first issue of Devotion, were in the news and advert-department. I found ONLY 5 adverts. And as for the news, only 8 groups were mentioned and no memberslists were added. Some of the news were hot though, but some weren't. Like the "news" that Bridgeclaw joined DarkAge as a double member when it happened one year before the release date of Devotion. This could easily be changed though, as Nah-Kolor have lots of good swappers which can supply both hot news and lots of adverts. The chart is different from other charts, so it was quite interesting too. Perhaps the swappers and others which can't find their name on the charts won't like it though? All in all, I think the contents are of high quality. Especially considering this is the first release.«» «» «c7»I give the contents 8 out of 10.«» «» «c6»Overall:«» «» «c2»I think the first release of Devotion can be called a success. When the scene is screaming for international mags, Devotion delievers! It got lots of articles (at least with todays standard) and interesting topics. I look forward to the next issue.«» «» «c7»I give Devotion 7,5-8 out of 10.«» «» «c1»SHOWTIME #15«» «» «c6»Mag:«» «» «c6»Code By: «c4»Modem/DarkAge«» «c6»Gfx By: «c4»Cheetah/Ephidrena and Made/Bomb«» «c6»Music By: «c4»Spektra/Appendix & Fukk My Face, Reed/Damage and Racoon/DarkAge«» «» «c6»Cliparts: «c4»Modem/DarkAge and Keen/?«» «c6»Title Picture: «c4»Unreal/Kengooroo«» «» «c6»Main-Editor: «c4»Modem/DarkAge«» «c6»Co-Editors: «c4»Ghandy/DarkAge^Gods^Faith, Dire/DarkAge and Zito/DarkAge^Reason«» «» «c6»Gallery:«» «» «c6»Code By: «c4»Modem/DarkAge«» «c6»Gfx By: «c4»Mrk«» «c6»Music By: «c4»Kfd/Trinity«» «» «c6»Title Picture: «c4»Lanch/Trinity«» «c6»Photo Editing: «c4»Modem/DarkAge«» «» «c6»Intro By: «c4»Fearmoths«» «c6»Gfx By: «c4»ShaneTheWolfTheDog«» «c6»Music By: «c4»UncleBoose«» «c6»"Code" By: «c4»TheVariousSlimeCreep (Done in VideoTracker according to rumours)«» «» «c2»Actually an intro by Ephidrena was ment to be used, but instead the Promotro-intro got included in the archieve.«» «» It was great that this chartmag returned after some trouble. I'm glad that D.I.S.C. and ShowTime didn't merge, so the scene will get two very special mags around. Modem has been working hard to release this issue, and it returned in full strengt; with a main-part, diary, gallery AND charts! And now the show continues.... and more surprises will appear in the next issue I'm sure... ;)«» «» «c6»Code:«» «» «c2»It has been said that the code is very old and need to be updated. Personally I think the code is pretty good and don't need to be updated much. It's easy to select articles by mouse, and also go from article to article by using the mouse or keyboard. It's no problem to switch from the mag-part, to diary or the charts. Nothing at all annoyed me. The code supports a clipart routine, and it's system friendly. And you can naturally choose between various modules. The Gallery part is also quite ok. It allows us to see pictures in high-quality (many colours). I don't have much more to add. In my old tradition, I'll give a half point extra in the code department as an intro was added.«» «» «c7»I give the code 7,5 out of 10.«» «» «c6»Gfx:«» «» «c2»The panels were pretty good... but haven't been changed in some years, since issue 11 I think. The background is also quite fitting. Nice fonts. There were only a few cliparts, but those were good. As for the gallery panels, I think they were nice. When it comes to the title pictures, the first one (the mag part) was quite weird, but cool. The one for the Gallery seemed to be a bit faded, but from the contours it looked to be a pretty good picture too. Anyway, I of course liked the main title picture of last issue much better, hehe. The charts gfx I've always liked a lot, it's very good.«» «» «c7»I give the gfx 7-7,5 out of 10.«» «» «c6»Music:«» «» «c2»There were 4 modules in ST; 3 in the mag part and 1 in the gallery part. The first module by Spectra was kind of diskmag music and quite ok I guess, but a bit boring and "noisy" for my taste. The second tune by Reed reminded me on the first tune at first, but it changed and I think it's a pretty good diskmag module. The third one from Racoon was very relaxing and I like it! The song for the gallery was done by Kfd, and it's cool with some bass elements.«» «» «c7»I give the music 7-7,5 out of 10.«» «» «c6»Contents:«» «» «c2»Now to the part that really interest me, the contents! ShowTime is a chartmag, and the most important thing is therefore the charts! Actually ST offers 95 votes, which is quite much nowadays and more than their rival EuroChart. So it's quite impressive. I've always enjoyed the ST charts, and this time was no exception. But I did detect a few mistakes, like the intro Radomized Sheep from Loonies was ranked both at 12th and 18th place. And the musician Jazz/Haujobb got both 13th and 16th place. Apart from that, it looked good. The diary included 27 groups, which is not bad at all. Some of the news were old though, and some quite fresh. The Gallery had 15 nice pictures by various sceners, however some of the pictures were quite old. Nevertheless, I liked the gallery. When it comes to the main- contents, I found 40 files. And out of that, I guess 29 were articles (including the scene corner). I at least enjoyed some articles from Ghandy, Darkhawk, Krabob, Zito, Modem, Lahve and LoadError. So there should be something for everybody.«» «» «c7»I give the contents 7 out of 10.«» «c6»Overall:«» «» «c2»I'm happy that Modem had the time and energy to release ST now. I enjoyed this issue, and hope that DarkAge will continue their good work. They've got a lot of friendly members in their staff, so I don't think it will be a problem to get support. I also think they'll strenghten both the mag-part and the chart-part in future issues as some more good members will support it.«» «» «c7»I give issue 15 of ShowTime 7-7,5 out of 10.«» «» «» «c1»THE EUROCHART #41«» «» «c6»Code By: Quedax/Depth and Cytron/Depth«» «c6»Gfx By: Slayer/Appendix«» «c6»Music By: Curt Cool/Depth and Estrayk & Evelred Of Paradox and Capsule«» «» «c6»Cliparts: Budgie/Absurd&Apathy&Appendix«» Darklight/Veezya«» Encore«» Kempy/Veezya«» Malmis/Apathy&Void«» Da Freak/Vortex^RNO«» «» «c6»Title Picture: Slayer/Appendix«» «» «c6»Main-Editors: Curt Cool/Depth, Cytron/Depth & Darkhawk/IRIS«» «» «c6»NO Intro«» «» «c2»The EuroChart is the oldest chartmag around. It has been done by Crusaders, Static Bytes, Depth and now in cooperation between Depth & IRIS. The latest years, this chartmag has also been the ONLY regular release. Therefore the mag has been very important for the scene.«» «» «c6»Code:«» «» «c2»Not much have changed in the code-department for many years. Infact, the code is almost the same as it was 5 years ago when it was done by another coder. But a few things have changed though, like a small bug has been removed. In any case, the source has not been very updated for years. But then again, why should it? It's real easy to operate by using a mouse, but much harder when trying to use the keyboard when entering the chart-section. Anyway, I didn't get any problems at all when I used the mouse and nothing really annoyed me. The Eurochart is system friendly, you can exit the mag and return to your other programs. The mag also offers a search-function, which is not that usual these days. However, I have seen better search-functions. The mag also got a good clipart-routine, but then again... all mags of today got that.«» «» The mag is divided into 3 different parts; the charts section, the EuroNews and the Gallery. And all parts have ok code. I noticed one bug though. In issue 41 it was not possible to enter the gallery from the news-section. However, you could reach the gallery from the charts.«» «» All in all, it's a pretty good code.«» «» «c7»I give the code 7 out of 10.«» «» «c6»Gfx:«» «» «c2»The panels by Slayer are really great. Very detailed and perhaps a bit original too. It got to be among the best panels I've seen the latest time. The title picture is pretty good too. The EuroChart also offer 15 cliparts, which are quite much. Some of the cliparts were good, some not that good. There was a huge gallery this time, with lots of nice pictures. I guess the Paparazzi The One, was behind most of them... ;) The gallery routine makes it possible to show the pictures in many colours, so the quality is good. Apart from that, the EuroChart gives us amazingly 103 pictures of sceners & productions in the chart-section! The bad part is perhaps that only two system fonts are used. However, they are easy to read.«» «» «c7»I give the gfx 8,5 out of 10.«» «» «c6»Music:«» «» «c2»This time the EuroChart offer only two modules. Well, two is actually more than enough. As usual the first module is done by Curt Cool, and I really like it. It got a cool melody and above all, it fits perfect in the mag. Also the other module is typical diskmag music after my opinion. Not much more to say about it really.«» «» «c7»I give the music 8 out of 10.«» «» «c6»Contents:«» «» «c2»The most important part of a mag, is of course the contents. As for a chartmag, the charts are most important.«» «» This time there were only 83 voters, and that's not very good I'm afraid. It's really sad that so few take the time to fill out a votesheet. And I guess even less will vote in the future, especially now as rumours are indicating that certain sceners from Poland will boycott the EuroChart. However, the chart section itself is pretty good... and for now, 80 votes are enough to make it interesting. The EuroStatistic is always cool.«» «» When it comes to the EuroNews-section, I fast had a look at the news and the adverts. There were quite many adverts, which show us that the swapping scene is still alive. As for the news, there were lots of them. Some were hot, and some were not. But I think the news-section was good. Especially writing the memberslist of the various groups is great.«» «» Then we have the articles! There were 52 files this time, and if I'm nice I could say that there were 37 articles (including the party-invitations), the rest were editorial files etc. This is infact quite much when it comes to nowadays mags, and especially chartmags! And looking back in time, before Depth took over the EC, I can truly say that the contents have become much better now. I found at least interesting articles from Curt Cool, Darkhawk, Wade and Slayer in this issue.«» «» «c7»I give the contents 7,5 out of 10.«» «» «c6»Overall:«» «» «c2»The EuroChart is a great chartmag with lots of talented members among its staff. It got good gallery, news and adverts sections. The chart section is also pretty good, but it should get more votes in the future. The latest years more articles have been added as well, and the quality has improved. What will happen in the future is hard to say, whether the staff will try to improve the chart-section or the article-section. In any case, two active groups are supporting it and I'm sure the regular releases will continue.«» «» «c7»I give this issue 7,5-8 out of 10.«» «» «c2»Now at the very end of the diskmag reviews, I'll tell you in what way I'll try to review the diskmags in the next issue of DISC.«» «» «c1»CODE:«» «» «c4»I'll check out if the diskmag has got:«» «» 1. User friendliness«» «» Which means... can you operate the mag by using both mouse, keyboard and joystick? Are the gadgets easy to use?«» «» 2. Cliparts«» «» Does the diskmag support a good clipart routine that makes it a bit more interesting to read? Many colours?«» «» 3. Search function«» «» Has the diskmag got a search routine? And if it does, is it good? Can it be used in all parts of the mag, or just in a few areas?«» «» 4. Multitasking«» «» Is it possible to go out of the mag and work with other programs at the same time, without quitting the mag? Is it system friendly?«» «» 5. Different modules?«» «» Can the mag manage to load different modules?«» «» 6. Fonts«» «» Does the mag have a routine for using different fonts?«» «» 7. Printer function«» «» Is it possible to print out the articles from the diskmag?«» «» 8. Other special features«» «» Does the mag have something else? Like special features, or just some ordinary additional coding? Examples: Choice to choose between different palettes, columns, pointers, etc. Or maybe specialities like animations etc.«» «» 9. Intro«» «» Has the mag got a nice intro?«» «» «c1»GFX:«» «» «c4»I'll check if the diskmag has:«» «» 1. A title picture«» «» Does the diskmag have a nice title picture?«» 2. Cliparts«» «» Does the mag have many different goodlooking cliparts?«» «» 3. Menu panels«» «» Has the diskmag got a nicely drawn panel?«» «» 4. Design«» «» Is the design special? Is it good?«» «» 5. Fonts«» «» Are the fonts good? Is it easy to read the articles? Are there many fonts?«» 6. Scanned Picture«» «» Are there any scanned pictures? A gallery?«» «» 7. Special features«» «» Does the mag offer very nice animations? Or other special gfx features?«» «» «c1»MUSIC:«» «» «c4»I'll check...«» «» 1. The number of modules«» «» Are there more than one module?«» 2. What kind of music?«» «» Is it typical diskmag music? Does the music suit the diskmag?«» «» 3. Variety?«» «» Does the module got many patterns? Does it have variation, or is it more or less boring?«» «» 4. Special features?«» «» Does the mag have any special sound effects?«» «» «c1»CONTENTS:«» «» «c4»1. Updated«» Are the files updated or are most of them old? Old news or outdated topics?«» «» 2. Good articles«» «» Are articles well-written or just some short files without any meaning?«» «» 3. Gallery/Charts«» «» Does the mag have either a gallery or chart? Or maybe both? And are they good and updated?«» «» 4. Number of files«» «» Does the diskmag only have a few files? Is it properly supported?«» 5. Special features«» «» Does the mag got some very special files? Very hot and interesting news or interviews? Scandals?«» «» Overall:«» «» Is the overrall look good? Does the code, gfx and music fit in? Improvements from earlier issues etc.«» «» Ok, that was it... remember that it can be hard to take on such a huge analysis, but I'll do my best.«» «» «» «c2»At the very end of this article, I want to give all diskmag makers an opportunity to get their diskmag reviewed! So if YOU are making a diskmag, then send it to me, and I'll try to review it for the next issue of DISC! That's it for this time...«» «» «» «e»