Go Ahead Make My Bed

Happy Halloween!

I figured I needed to make a silly video for Halloween and what better than Chainsaw Massacre by The Lost Boys? It's a short and nostalgically entertaining demo but, also a fantastic example of the banter between ST groups back then. I love this a lot and ended my video recording with a beautifully scary image taken from Halloween, by The Black Twins.

Those of you who are too much of a wimp to watch a Swedish Carebear getting mutilated might be better off playing a game or two instead? The Atari ST has many ghoulishly 'scary' games to choose from and many I have yet to feature here on AtariCrypt. But here are some nerve-racking ideas which are highly recommended by yours truly...

Horror Zombies From The Crypt is the obvious choice - because it's fiendishly superb. Ooze was recently reviewed and, while it's a little quirky, there are lots of things going bump in the night to entertain. Following on in a similar vein is The Curse of Rabenstein, a brand new slice of horror which is jaw-droppingly awesome. Frankenstein takes us all on a humerous B-Movie adventure. But now, I feel I need to inject some violence into the world of horror and I personally feel nothing beats Death Chase for immense blood and gore! Finally, there is Nightbreed if you dare to try your luck within the disturbed mind of Clive Barker?

I'm now in the mood for something new (for me) to play: Brides Of Dracula, Munsters or Night Hunter. Has anyone played 'em?? Let me know what you think in the comments below. Oh, and don't forget about ZombieCrypt which is spine-chillingly cool. By that, I mean it's that lame slideshow I made a while back. Watch it and let me know what you think!

Happy Halloween folks and remember, it'll soon be Christmas!! ;^)

Evil Ash, from Evil Dead II and then featured in ZombieCrypt on the Atari ST. How cool is that!

Grusel

Nasty Comedy Horror

This was one of the first demos I ever bought from a PD library when I became an ST user. The scene was fresh and bewildering for me back then. I had little money and took the plunge to blindly spend my pennies on something called "Grusel". I miss those days of ordering from PD libraries!

Thanks to the insanity of Eckhard Kruse, I've been hooked on graveyards, weird skeletons, and ghosts for over 30 years. Yes, it looks silly, but this is an ST classic and something I just had to share. Grusel can be downloaded from Eckhard's own website (don't forget Ballerburg, an outstanding turn-based strategic shooter you need to play!). This little demo is nothing less than a timeless classic. A childish demo. A masterpiece!

Phantom

Wanna see a jaw-dropping Atari ST demo?

The Phantom Demo was released by Amiga/PC crew, Arkham who (for me) seemed to appear on the ST out of nowhere, only to disappear once again. This demo is actually two different party releases from 1993/4 bundled together. They feature super-duper visual effects and fantastic chiptunes by Kane Wood. Can you tell that I enjoyed this a bunch!!

The two videos are incomplete but a good idea of how fantastic it is. This was deliberate as I didn't want to spoil the fun - the demo is best viewed using a real Atari ST computer. If you can, please do!! The download is available on AtariMania with more of Kane's music on Demozoo. Enjoy what is nothing less than blummin' immaculate :)

Hang on, don't go just yet! Check these out...

     

ElefantaSTic

This demo was released at Silly Venture 2013 by Genesis Project and is amazing. No, it's outstanding and I love ElefantaSTic because it breaks from the norm with unique and stunning styles. Plus the artwork is superb with beautiful effects and a perfectly apt chiptune. This is one of my personal favourites and is downloadable from Demozoo.

Credits

MCH - Music

Mermaid - Graphics, Music

Shadow - Code

Things Not To Do

Electronic Images released one of the most hilarious Atari ST demos I have ever seen. I did try and record a video but my emulator missed some graphics and the sine scroller (which is beautiful) was jerking like it had a nervous twitch. So I burned the image to a floppy disk - because nothing beats the real hardware - and was able to enjoy it properly.

Download this utterly stupid demo from AtariMania then turn up the volume and enjoy the show.

Credits

4mat - Music

Count Zero - Music

Griff - Code, Text

J.C.B - Graphics (Animation)

Master - Graphics

Midnight Sun

Today I fancied some ST GLAM!!

I've just been going through the latest uploads on Demozoo and there have been many incredible releases of demos, artwork and music from both the Outline and Sommarhack parties. I'm constantly blown away by what the DHS boys can produce: the video above is of Midnight Sun for the Atari STe which runs in complete overscan!!

Credits for Midnight Sun by Dead Hackers Society

Crazy Q - Music

Evil - Code

Excellence In Art - Other (Sample sequence)

Proteque - Graphics

https://demozoo.org/productions/174400/

Now check out these screenshots for an idea of what the Atari ST #demoscne is cable of knocking out. Remember, YouTube is good, but nothing beats the experience of using a real Atari ST/e computer. #JustSaying :p

Virtual Escape

Jaw-Dropper

After about 6 years, Equinox eventually released Virtual Escape in 1999 and it's one of my favourite demos. The tunes are utterly sexy and there are also some of the most incredible visuals that will blow your socks off!! Those swirling dots are gobsmackingly beautiful and I love the super-duper fast 3D. It's hard to believe this is all on a stock 512KB 8MHz Atari ST. An incredible production that oozes class and is definitely one of the beST 16-Bit demos out there.

Don't emulate - experience this using a real Atari ST and crank up the volume!

Credits and Downloads

Furax - Music

Jedi - Music

Keops - Code, Graphics (design)

Mad Max - Music (endpart)

Nova - Graphics

Starlion - Code

You can download Virtual Escape right now off Demozoo.

Democyclopedia mentions each effect, along with the awesome Skyline (see above).

Circus back²STage

Circus back²STage demo for the Atari STe, by BlaBLa, Cocoon & Sector One.

With such an unusual style, Circus back²STage is a fascinating Atari STe demo. It features a bucket load of crazy, colourful effects in overscan with the most wonderful chip music. Some people hate clowns but get over it - this is literally one of the best demos I have ever seen. Okay, it's hard drive installable and downloads are available via Demozoo.

It's-a-me, Mario!

Oh no! Mario is now available for the Atari ST. Phew, thankfully, I'm lying!! This is actually a cool intro screen that was created to be a main menu for some demo that never got completed. Good old Demozoo informs that it's by Channel 38 and features neat music and a large "play area" making good use of those borders. Oh yeah, so nice!!

My apologies for my video recording which is pretty poor. A real ST/e performs silky smooth.

Flip-O-Demo

I'm starting my weekend with the exquisite Flip-O-Demo by Oxygene/Diamond Design because it's just been updated to support hard drive installation. Originally, it was released in 1993 and contains some of the best artwork and visual fx you could imagine - all whilst playing lovely audio by one of my favourite musicians. A fabulous demo!

Flip-O-Demo is certainly one of the best examples of Atari ST creativity. Grab it from Demozoo right now.

Credits
Jess - Music
Leonard - Code
MoN - Graphics
Niko - Graphics
Oxbab - Code
Scavenger - Music
Spiral - Graphics
Wilfried - Graphics

ASCII art

Unreversable demo (2013) by M.E.C for Atari ST

Credits : bob_er (code) | Dhor (music) | gwEm (code/music)

I came across this rather uniquely mesmerising demo the other night on Demozoo and just had to record it. Unreversable is an ASCII art sensation accompanied by funk and dunk chip music for an outstanding experience. Perhaps most amazing is that it's only 64kb, quite incredible... How do they do it? Well, I hope you enjoy this demo as much as I did?

Unreversable is by a group of talented 8Bit'ers called Masters Of Electric City.

 (creators of Unbeatable - a monochrome Atari ST demo!!)

lotsa stars!

I figured that it was about time I uploaded a video of this demo. I've had it for absolute yonks but I should have uploaded it ages ago. Why? Because it's so impressive and needs to be shared amongst the demoscene fanbase. I mean, come on just, look at the specs: 1265 zillion+ stars, calculated in real-time and at 50fps. Mind-boggling specs on show!!

I would like to see another 16-bit computer try this! So sit back and enjoy the show... 

Credit

No More - Music

Phenomenon - Code, Graphics (Logo)

TiNKer - Graphics (Font)

Download from Demozoo.