!Interview with Darkhawk
By Teis/DVN Staff
Interview With Darkhawk

"Devotion and DISC might become the new leaders!" - Darkhawk.

Teis:
Hello and welcome to another "Live and Direct" Session. Today I'm going to annoy Darkhawk/IRIS about the Amiga scene and his point of view. So Darkhawk. You have a real name, don't you? 

Darkhawk:
Hrmm.. yes, I think so.. My mother doesn't call me Darkhawk, unfortunately, gets really confusing at times.. Ehr! I mean yes.. Christian is my real name ;)

Teis:
Christian? Wow :). a Religious name. Well, tell us your last name, where and when you have seen the daylight at first sight :)

Darkhawk:
Hrmmf, trying to get even more secret information out of me.. Oh well then, my full name is Christian Hviid, and I was born in Holbæk, which is a town in Denmark, and that means I'm one of them rowdy danes, hehe.

Teis:
As we know already, you are a member of the group called "IRIS". For how long have you been active in the Amiga scene?

Darkhawk:
Quite a long time really, I`m one of those nostalgic oldtimers complaining about how the scene was better before, the grass was greener, etc.. Ahh, ok, since 1989, where I joined up with a danish group we called BAD - Business after Dark. After watching RSI's Megademo, I simply HAD to be a part of the scene, I knew back then :)

Teis:
Yeah, I can remember. I also wanted to be a part after I saw RSI's Megademo. Well, I only made it in 96 hehehe ;D Anyways, you have probably joined and parted a lot of groups?

Darkhawk:
Well, not a lot really.. Ok, back then, I changed groups some times, and I was also a part of the crackerscene for awhile, while maintaining another handle and group for the demoscene.. Guess I can say that without repercussions now ;) I've been a member of BAD, Fate, Hybris, Megalomania, D-29 and IRIS in that order. I joined IRIS January 1994 and have stayed there ever since.. No fancy doublemember stuff for me, so no, I guess the list of groups isn't really that large :)

Teis:
Nice. You have seen a lot of things happen in the scene, I suggest. What do you think of the nowadays scene compared to the good old days? 

Darkhawk:
Wheee, that's a question which would take a long time to answer if I had do to it thouroughly :) Well, honestly, there was A LOT of things, which were better back then (ohh no, the old nostalgic feeling coming up ;)).. The scene was around 100 times bigger than now, in DK alone for instance, we had 30-40 groups between 89-92, making sure that there was always a lot of stuff going on, a lot of competition, a lot of friends to be made, a lot of excitement, etc.. Also because everything had a certain pioneer feeling to it back then.. Well, then things started to change, we got more familar with our computer and eachother, and the scene started to shrink away, not only because of Commodore, but certainly that was the main reason.. What I like about nowadays scene, is that there's still people who want to hang on and have fun, in the good old scenespirit way, getting new friends, producing stuff for others to watch, etc.. And we still have some great and social parties, although everything is smaller than before, and there is much less happening.. Ahh well, I still have fun, especially with my group, arranging internal meetings, even a one week summercottage meeting each summer has become a tradition.. Things like that, parties, releases and scenefriends makes the scene a worthy hobby today as before.. All on the Amiga of course :)

Teis:
It sounds like the amiga scene isn't dying, it's more changing to an own, private scene. Would you agree that the amiga scene is changing to what the c64 is now? 

Darkhawk:
Partly :) It is also my opinion that the Amiga scene has never been in any danger of dying, rather, it is restructuring itself (wow, sounds like a living entity ;) to the current state. Smaller, more compact, better organized, etc. But I would not say it is going to be just like the C64 scene. The Amiga scene will always be much bigger than the C64 scene, simply because there are/were more Amiga owners. I don't think we can become much smaller than we are now, but the C64 scene seems to be dwindling constantly, sadly. And they are so small, that if just one talented group leaves them each year, they would be very dead very soon. Well, that is partly true with the Amiga too, but.. Naah, neither scene will die, I think time has shown us that.. We should be dead a long while ago if we were going to die :)

Teis:
Yeah! There have been new groups poping out here and there, and new talents, graphic cracks. What do you think of the quality and the artists nowadays compared to 95-97? 

Darkhawk:
Ahemm.. I was going to write an article about that, so I decline to answer.. ;) Naah, I think the quality and general knowhow has gone down. Especially in regards to coding, generally speaking of course. It takes a lot of experience and knowhow to learn to code well, and I just don't see that many insanely well coded routines like before, we might have new coders popping up, but the old ones we still do have, and which are real good, are a product of maybe 8 years of coding experience.. It takes a lot of time to replace one like that when he leaves the scene.. This is also true of other scene artists, gfxers and musicians, and especially writers too (ofcourse ;)). It takes some years to develop your own style and have enough experience/talent to be good, and with many of the old sceners leaving, we see a natural decrease in quality.. Can't be avoided, but aslong as those newcomers keep trying, they will be skilled legends one day too :)
 
Teis:
So your opinion is that the quality isn't what it was before. Somehow true. I think that the first sceners also have formed the scene and that these old sceners also are one reason for keeping the amiga scene alive. What is your opinion about amiga sceners leaving the amiga for pc? 

Darkhawk:
Well.. most Amiga sceners who leave, leave for good, and not for the PC.. But I don't really know anyone personal, who changed to the PC scene. What I hear though, is that they don't feel the PC scene is as open and in touch with itself as the Amiga one, and they generally complain about lack of happenings outside of parties and lack of friendship (maybe even lack of spirit? Wouldn't know), so in my eyes, it's your own funeral if you switch to the PC, might aswell leave the scene entirely then, because that is what happens sooner or later when you shift to PC, mostly sooner ;) And then we end up with all those wankers on #AmigaSCNE, owing a PC but who keep coming back to the channel, because they miss *something*. I don't think the PC scene is worth it.. If you want to leave the Amiga scene, either leave the scene completely, or go back to the C64 I say ;)


Teis:
Word!! We even have sceners which are parents and they still stick to the amiga. sweet! Let us switch from the nostalgy to some other subject.

Darkhawk:
Yes, enough teary nostalgics for now :)

Teis:
Would you agree that the articles in diskmags have changed more to a professional level since the first diskmags have been released? 

Darkhawk:
hrmm again.. Partly.. 1-2 years ago, I think we had a quite high level.. But we've had a high level of articlewriting since RAW really, and the late Upstream, it then got more and more refined until a year or so ago. And then many of the real good editors quit, leaving the magscene without their distinct styles (and mags, for that matter ;)), so now I think we're going to have to work somewhat hard to save the magscene and reestablish the magscene.. Luckily it seems like there are a lot of new initiatives about to appear.. Yes, Devotion, but also DISC, the cool, old mag (yep, advertising here ;)). Other mags have also come out recently.. All in all it is cool that the magscene seems to revive itself, but I still think there has to be done some work before we can again reach the quality we had 1-2, vene 3 years ago :)
 
Teis:
DISC, a revival of an old mag? Devotion, a new era since ROM? Do you think that articles need a high level of an english writing or is it enough writing an article understandable?

Darkhawk:
Yes, DISC is a revival of the old mag, and hrmm.. The second question is a bit trickier.. I once wrote that if you had a viewpoint, it was ok to write an article, although your english was bad, because the spellcheker could always fix it, but on the other hand, I love wellwritten articles more than I would a normal or bad lyt written article, even if it had a good point. I think that is some elitistic element that has sneaked itself into my opinions ;) I see badly written articles as a waste of time to read, while I take great pleasure in reading a well-thought out, intellignet and skillfully executed article.. Ahh, that is not so strange afterall I guess ;) Still, everybody has a right to be heard, and mags should spellcheck articles they get anyway, so I think those articles have their place too.. Also, you wouldn't see the whole picture if you only included articles from an elect few editors, so.. hrmm, interesting topic :)

Teis:
Well articles including written pieces like "yoyo, and that shiet is def. sum douphest shiet i've heard, niggahz. comin' atchya" wouldn't be good at all? but on the other side, not all sceners know all the High Level words some editors use in their articles.

Darkhawk:
Yes, that's true.. And if you have something interesting to write, you should be able to write it, thats also my opinion. Let the spellchecker sort it out then, you deserve to be heard.. On the other hand, you don't appreciate a bad painting with a good motif as much as you would apreciate a painting by Picasso, regardless of motif.. Or atleast it can be that way, so.. Let everybody write, and let us decide ourselves what we want to read :)

Teis:
There is a huge loss of Main Editors. Do you think that the new mags will achive the same standart as the old ones, or even a more higher one?

Darkhawk:
I don't honestly know, but I think that some of the new mags will be bad in some ways, good in other, and that Devotion and DISC might become the new leaders, IF we manage to get them both out ;) Darkus is a skilled editor and a native englishman, and DISC will have a lot of the remaining old editors about, like Zerox, Ghandy, yours truly, and some others, one of which will surprise you very much, heh.. However, I cant see us reaching as high in regards to quality as RAW, ROM and Generation had.. Too few experienced writers around, and too little overall direction. We will need time to reach the old days in that regard, but if we get time.. Then I hope so :)

Teis:
I hope so, too! ok, one more question. Do you think there should be more interviews in mags?

Darkhawk:
Hehe! Well, I used to think that a mag should have atleast 3-4 normal interviews, but nowadays, with the small scene we have, it might get boring, watching the same people being interviewed over and over.. Nothing like interviewing the legends like Chaos and Dr. Awesome in the past, we don't have that kind of legends, who could get people to read. However, interviews might be interesting anyway, offering various insights into various things, like this one :)

Teis:
Yes indeed :) Well, this was a long and interesting interview about the scene and mags with yours truly Darkhawk. Thank you a lot for spending your time with us! ;) If you have anything to write or something that matter, feel free to get your keyboard burning ;D 

Darkhawk:
Thanks for wanting to spend the time with me, and good luck with Devotion! :) 

Darkhawk:
Ahemm.. It is hard chatting, getting interviewed and eating spaghetti at the same time, but.. ;) Naah, It'll be boring.. Greetings to all I know, I respect all of you guys for spending time on our beloved scene! :) 

Teis:
Thank's again ;D And I hope you'll stay with us for some more time. Even if you become a father like me, Ghandy or Darkus ;) That's all folks ... 

Teis:
... And there they wen't... both, sceners of a scene which still keeps developing and living ... two sceners which are totally different and still have the same interests in the scene, one in this matter, the other in that...