www.fusecon.com

[Guest]

Hi, got my copy of the DVD before christmas, and it is excellent. Also gave away a few of them as christmas presents, and they loved it too.

When watching the DVD I remembered something that I have been trying to get hold of.

I was not able to attend the Gathering '95 myself, but I got Dope from a guy I knew at the time which did. Sometime later I lost it (I had a very small harddrive at the time, and copied it out to a bad floppy). When I went to download it from Hornet, I found to my great surprise that the version that was there was slightly different.

The most easily noticable difference was with the music. The music changes pretty suddenly in the "phong env mapping" section, this section was a bit different in the other version. There were some other differences, but as I haven't seen the other version for atleast five years I'm not sure I remember it very well any more. There is some white pixels that pops up and then disapears quickly in the "phong blur" section, I think this was fixed in the other version.

I always thought that the other version was more final. The reason I thought that was that while the widely released version has instrument names in the sampletext of the mod, the other version had some other text.

I remember that the guy I got Dope from told me that he was sitting close to the Complex guys, so it possible that the version that is on the DVD is the one that was shown on the big screen, and that the other version is something that Complex handed out personally later.

I spent some time a few years ago searching for this other version, without luck, so it is not easy to come by, but I'm sure that some sceners has it stored away somewhere, I would really like to see it again.

[ociyb]

Hmm, it was not intentional to post this message anonymously, I must have done something wrong.

[Guest]

Still have a version of it dated 15/4/1995

The dope.txt file reads as follows


DOPE by COMPLEX

requires:
550k of base memory
600k of extended memory
512k of gus memory (for music)

sorry... we ran out of time so this is "a bit" unfinished
demo was supposed to have end scroll but we didnt have time to
make graphics for it so here's the full credits:

code jmagic
graphics jugi
music jugi
music replay routine phantom/sonic pc (gus unit raped by jmagic)
routine boxes sketch jugi
boxes pixelled by reward
media labs logo reward

3d objects:

credits part jugi
7800 polys m.hakulinen
environment map jugi
shadow volume cat figure found from some cdrom...
world domination m.hakulinen

m. hakulinen is a friend of mine and can be reached by email
from mhakuli@cs.joensuu.fi



complex@hut.fi


[phoenix]

I don't recall there ever being a "final version" of Dope. If there was one, it was uploaded only a few days after the original.

Perhaps you had different hardware the second time you saw it, which could've produced different results. The music will sync differently on a faster CPU (the visuals will outpace the music by a few seconds), and it's possible some bugs will pop up on certain machines.

[ociyb]

I probably shouldn't have said "final", that was just a guess. It is a slightly different version though.

I took a look at the harddrive where I keep my old demos, and had my memory refreshed somewhat (should have done that before before posting ). It seems like I was able to resurrect dope.mod and dope.txt from the old floppy disk, but not dope.exe. I put up a zip file with it here if anyone feels like checking out this obscure piece of scene history. The zip file also includes a dope.exe that I found with the other files, but I'm pretty sure that it's not the right version.

clx_dope.zip is the version of it that is on the DVD, dope.zip has atleast got slightly different music.

[Trixter]

Andy, I look forward to your expert analysis of this (serously).

[phoenix]

OK, phoenix the antique demo appraiser is here.

What we have here, sir, is indeed a "compo version" of Dope. Here are the files in your DOPE.ZIP:

DOPE.EXE - 575673 - 4/12/1995
DOPE.MOD - 1060522 - 4/14/1995
DOPE.TXT - 1192 - 4/14/1995

And the files in the regular CLX_DOPE.ZIP:

DOPE.EXE - 584133 - 4/15/1995
DOPE.MOD - 957334 - 4/12/1995
DOPE2.TXT - 1093 - 4/13/1995

Now, the mod and txt from the latter are supposedly "fixed" from the first one, so either the timestamps were reset on your PC, or they "backdated" them for some reason (hey, I've done it before too).

Anyway, the demos themselves don't appear much different. I caught a flickering bug in the motion blur part in the compo version, but both of them have that "too-close-to-the-object" bug at the end of the part. The major difference is the music. The compo version has written sample text, instead of sample names ("dope - onward ride".. "the tune with a pathetic brekbeat" [sic]). It's roughly the same, up until the drumloop part during the phong env map/bump glow. That part's almost entirely different, and I can see why Jugi changed it . After that, there are some extra drumfills, an early shift down in key, and at the very end, it shifts up in key like in "Onward".

I don't believe I've ever seen this version before, not even when it was first released at NAID (4/15/1995), so it's likely they were quick to release CLX_DOPE.ZIP over the original. It's always interesting to see compo or beta versions of legendary demos, not to mention humbling, but it can shatter that vision of perfection, so it may be best to leave them alone (unless they're hidden, heh )

[phoenix]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention this extra bit appears in the original DOPE.TXT:

>> Last message before deadline: Everything fucked up due to machines too fast!
Bahbah... well, im off 2 sleep. BAH.. and i managed 2 fuk up the tune too!
. good night universe!
peace,
jugi

[Guest]

I believe both versions of the song are available for a listen on scenemusic.net

One is listed as Onward, and one Onward Ride Original.
4:48 and 8:01 respectively.

I'm not exactly sure these are the exact versions contained within this discussion, but quite possibly.

Troll

[phoenix]

I don't think so.. Onward was the shortened version made for the TG95 music compo (ONWARD.XM). I'm *guessing* (I don't tune into Nectarine) Onward Ride Original is the "final" demo version of DOPE.MOD. At least, whoever submitted it would have to be out of their mind to upload the very first demo version.

[Guest]

[Guest]

Interesting. I've never really looked at it cloesly. But dope.zip is the copy I used to have all those years ago. No wonder when I saw the dvd that demo felt different. And I believe the compo version IS what is on nectarine, but I have to wait until it is unlocked again to play it. It's not that uncommon for them to have obscure or original versions of songs on there rather than the public or final release versions.

I remember the sample text specifially and that also gave it away. I think my copy came through a friend from Whammy Bar BBS. And was literally the first demo I saw and he put it on a floppy for me to bring home.

Troll