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Maduplec / Sidewize,
Noise,
Nato,
Crest
Added on March 8th, 2010 (5355 views)
www.c64.com?type=3&id=234
Tell us something about yourself.
I'm Martin, I was born in Cøpenhagen, and I now live and work in New York.
What handle(s) did you use and how did you come up with it/them?
Maduplec. MA is my initials followed by bad spelling for double C. :)
What group(s) were you in?
Sidewize, Noise, Nato, and Crest.
What roles have you fulfilled?
I was mainly a coder, but I also made my own music and graphics.
How long were you active for?
1987-1992.
Tell us about those years and how you got into the scene in the first place.
I got my C64 in 1986 and soon got interested in programming it. Once I couldn't learn more from the books I read, I searched for people in my town that had experience in programming machine code. One thing led to another and I joined Sidewize, a Danish group which I made a number of simple demos for. Later, with Noise and Nato, the demos became better and were distributed around the world. During my final years, I was in Crest where I made more demos, some of which I also made the music and graphics for.
Describe a typical day for you in front of the computer.
Friends and group members would send me new demos as they received them on floppy disks. I would then watch them over and over again and try to determine how the effects were programmed. If it was a new effect that couldn’t be explained with the techniques I knew, I would reset the computer and start looking at the code to figure out how it worked. This could take minutes, hours or days. The goal was to understand the dynamics and to be able to reproduce it from scratch. Once I had it working on my own, I would either try to improve it, or combine it with other techniques in order to invent new concepts. New demo part ideas came from watching TV, from Amiga productions, from discussions with friends, and sometimes they would just hit me as I was thinking about something completely different!
Did you personally invent any special techniques or tools to make things easier for you?
I remember writing code that created macros in order to optimize the needed processing time for a given effect. I liked to work on DYCP’s, 3D graphics, etc. I don’t remember seeing a 3D bobs routine on the C64 before I built one. In terms of tools, I remember writing a music player and an editor which I enjoyed using to create demo soundtracks. I also built a character editor for various character set sizes, and I used it for most of the sets I drew.
When you look at what you did back then, what are you most proud of?
The friendships and rivalries developed in this very unique subculture centred on an ever evolving competitive quest to be 'the best'. Many lessons learned that you typically only learn later in life.
Who were your heroes on the scene and why?
1001 Crew and The Judges basically started the demo scene. I also remember Upfront at some point leading in both programming and style.
What, for you, was the coolest thing ever invented on the C64?
The opening of the border! How does someone even start to think of that as a possibility? :)
Did you go to any copy-parties, meetings or tradeshows?
Yes, I went to plenty in Denmark and Sweden over the years. Not sure of their names but we went to Randers, Slagelse, Samsø, and Alingsås among other places.
In your opinion, what was the scene all about?
It was about organized, positive competition that without a central direction created a set of rules that everyone understood. The rules were understood across national borders, and suddenly you'd find yourself communicating with people across Europe, the US, and Australia in your mid-teens.
What were the particular highlights for you?
I can't remember one specific highlight, but it was always fun to go to the parties and meet the people you had exchanged mail with and talked to on the phone.
Any cool stories to share with us?
Our group (it was either Sidewize or Noise) had some sort of fight going on with another group. When all members in this group was gathered in the same house, we decided to call the leader of the other group and record everything on tape. We sampled a couple of the things he said that out of context sounded hilarious, and used it in a simple demo with a Beastie Boys soundtrack playing in the background. We then took this demo to an event and played it on as many computers we could get our hands on. As you can imagine, this turned out to be a lot of fun, well, mainly for us anyway. :)
Are you still in contact with any old C64 people today?
Yes, I found a few old friends on Facebook and some have found me. I have however not really seen anyone for the past 10-15 years.
When did you get your C64 and do you still have it lying around somewhere?
I got it on January 24, 1986 (my birthday). I think my parents threw it out some 10 years ago.
Was the C64 really as special as we like to think it was?
Yes! Anyone with time and interest could learn how to program the C64, plus so many had it even though is was mainly for playing games. As a result, a lot of people could see what you had created, and effectively, a new type of media was born. This is what I think makes the C64 scene so unique at its time.
When can we expect to see some new C64 output from you? :)
Probably not in the nearest future. :)
Do you have a message for your old contacts and/or anyone reading this?
Find me on Facebook and let's catch up!
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