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Xenox / Icon Arts,
The Charges,
Lore of Arts,
Alpha Flight 1970,
Excess
Added on December 3rd, 2003 (8316 views)
www.c64.com?type=3&id=90
Tell us something about yourself.
My name is Frank Neumann and I was born in Salzgitter, Germany on 1973-12-10.
What handle(s) did you use and how did you come up with it/them?
Frank, Iron and Xenox.
What group(s) were you in?
Icon Arts (a game company like Amok), The Charges, Lore of Arts, Alpha Flight 1970 and Excess.
What roles have you fulfilled?
I was a coder, artist, musician, swapper and later sysop for the Alpha Flight Board Escapade - europes’ number one!
How long were you active for?
I started computing in 1984 with a Atari VC2600, Commodore C16 and 86 and a C64 (and later on the Amiga). I quit the scene in 1997 because my CMD hard drive crashed and I had to shut down my board.
Tell us about those years and how you got into the scene in the first place.
I got in contact with some people from Mantronix through the German paper magazine 64'er. I wanted to code a game and was searching for people to help me. Later I joined the game company Icon Arts.
Describe a typical day for you in front of the computer.
In the early days I watched people when they called my board and I was still coding a lot of intros. Because I owned three C64s, I could do a lot of things at the same time. I dedicated the first computer for coding only, the second one for drawing graphics and the third one did all the rest. That was great because I never had to turn off the coding C64! :)
Did you personally invent any special techniques or tools to make things easier for you?
Well, yes! I coded some tools just for my own. For example, I coded an intro and incorporated an editor so that every cracker that used the intro, could easily change things around.
When you look at what you did back then, what are you most proud of?
That's a hard question. I don't know. I had fun and that was the main reason for doing all this. I never wanted to be the best coder, artist etc.
Who were your heroes on the scene and why?
My hero was and still is Crossbow of Crest. It's unbelievable what he has done! A musical hero for me was and still is Thomas “Drax” Mogensen and of course Jeroen Tel, Chris Hülsbeck and Cane of Spirit.
What, for you, was the coolest thing ever invented on the C64?
There were a lot of cool routines! Too many to mention really.
Did you go to any copy-parties, meetings or tradeshows?
Yep, I visited some parties like Venlo, Radwar and some in East Germany.
In your opinion, what was the scene all about?
Havin’ phun!
What were the particular highlights for you?
My board Escapade got a lot of calls each day, sometimes 30-50 calls, and it was europes’ number one for over two years. I had a different approach to boards and people seemed to like that. Later I drew graphics for the boards in the States too and that was fun!
Any cool stories to share with us?
Hmm… Not really. But hey! I meet Manfred Trenz once! :)
Are you still in contact with any old C64 people today?
Yes, I still meet some of my old pals on IRC.
When did you get your C64 and do you still have it lying around somewhere?
I got it in the summer of 1986.
Was the C64 really as special as we like to think it was?
Well, I liked that everyone had the same type of machine. PCs today have a lot of CPU power and different graphic cards, but on the C64 everything was the same. If someone programmed a great effect, you knew that he was a good coder because you can’t fake the CPU power.
When can we expect to see some new C64 output from you? :)
Well, maybe I will finish my Alpha Flight Mega Demo which has been lying in my disk box collecting dust since 1996! :)
Do you have a message for your old contacts and/or anyone reading this?
People, please visit my website (http://computer.freepage.de/xenox) and let’s get back in contact!
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