My old mate Stuart, aka the Elk of
STatariART, is working on a new diskmag which he's developed using GFA Basic. We're already at issue three which features a nifty user interface, a silly letter (that you shouldn't read) and lots of superb medium-resolution artwork (
I'm looking forward to more pics in the future).
Content is low, but steadily increasing now that the groundwork for the magazine structure is improving. He hopes to release a disk monthly, which is ambitious, to say the least, with a plan to recreate that community vibe from the 90s. So, you're invited to contribute whatever you like and have your say. Come on and get involved. :-)
EFA issue #3 can be
downloaded from over on the Demozoo website and I invite you all to check it out sometime over the weekend. Here are a few sneaky screenshots to tease you into clicking on that download link. Oh, I also asked Stuart why he's even making an Atari ST diskmag in the 21st century, here's what he had to say...
Hey Steve! First, can I say thank you to the Crypt for picking up my new diskmag thing - I appreciate it cos I know how busy things are down in the fiery depths of the undead Atariverse! Here's a bit of background about me and how I arrived at the idea of doing this diskmag thing for the ST.
My name is Stuart Johns but I go by 'the elk'; my passion thereby being Public Domain, specifically creating artwork and music to contribute to the PD scene. I started out in computing back in 1983 when my folks bought an Acorn Electron and it got me hooked into the 8-bit world. Come the late '80s and we upgraded to a C64, but I soon replaced this with a Miggy and it was on that machine that I began to fiddle around in Deluxe Paint and ProTracker.
After these beginnings in the '80s and '90s amongst Acorns and Commodores, it wasn't actually until 2016 that I got my first ST machine! When I was younger, a musician friend of mine had an ST and I had always been intrigued by them. The chance to get one at a good price came up and I grabbed it. I immediately fell in love with it; not just the aesthetic but the way it worked and of course the MIDI side of things.... and Degas Elite... I mean what can I say? True Love!
It's always been important to me that people use the stuff I am creating as a truly public domain resource - I encourage people to reuse it and change it themselves without any credit to my original work. But I am always trying to find new ways of getting the art out there. The EFA diskmag idea was borne and the Atari ST seemed like the perfect way to springboard this. I wish I had got an ST back in the day instead of the miggy, but it's all good... it just means I have a lot of catching up to do!
That brings me onto the EFA diskmag as it stands. It's up to issue 3 (that being released on September 5th, 2020) and I am coding it in GFA Basic on my STe. The first two issues were extremely bare-bones, but with issue 3 I see a bit of an evolution - sub-menus, structure, cleaner coding for displaying pictures and even displaying text files within the mag itself - with a good deal of help from folks over at the Atari-Forum.com (what is probably simple coding to most folks lol).
So I see issue 3 as a foundation issue. I admit that content is thin, but I feel there is a structure to move forward with and hopefully, people will email their letters, thoughts and pictures (PI2 format please). I will hopefully be doing some interviews and such as time goes on and also looking at the ST itself as a vehicle for PD art and music. Everything starts from something, right?
- EFA diskmag Issue #3 screenshots -