Interview with Ninja/Scoopex
     
                       A n   I n t e r v i e w   w i t h 


Ninja/Scoopex



by Shade/Surprise Productions



    Is it just me or  is  there  a  distinct  lack of QUALITY productions being
 released by so called "elite" groups  these  days?  I mean, they're all either
 dying off (like Sanity) or they're jam  packed with totally cool members  that
 are just plain lazy and inactive!

    A group that most people thought they'd  seen  the  last of a while back is
 Scoopex. There were a few rumours  going  around  that  they were not going to
 release anymore demos and would probably die.


{

    But recently this legendary group seems  to  have been resurrected from the
 dead and placed firmly at the  front of most scener's minds by a steady stream
 of first class productions.  Releases such as Alien and ISO have got everybody
 holding the group in high  esteem once again!

    One Scoopex member in particular  has  played  a  BIG  part in this phoenix
 from the ashes type tail. He's  the  coder  of that excellent trackmo: ISO and
 is known as Ninja.

    Ninja is a truly nice guy and  has  agreed  to  take time out from his busy
 schedule to do this exclusive interview with me. In this in depth interview  I
 hope to answer all the questions you might have about the man behind the demo:




                           SD = Shade   NJ = Ninja



{

 SD:     Salut Ninja! ca va? :) Okay, why don't we get some standard stuff  out
 of the way first by telling  all  the  Deadlock  readers: your real name, age,
 occupation and what country you live in...

 NJ:     My real name is Jean-pierre, I finished Computer Sciences studies  and
 I live in this nice country called France.

 SD:     Right, I know you was on the  Atari  ST scene for a while but  exactly
 how long have you been  doing  your  thing  on  the  Amiga?  And do you  still
 consider the Atari scene to be superior? (boooo, hisss, arggghhhh!!!)

 NJ:     I'm on the Amiga scene for 5  years  now,  as  I began on the Atari ST
 scene I could compare both Amiga and ST scene.  The Atari scene is nearly dead
 now (except some groups on FALCON computer),  but it's true that at his golden
 age the Atari ST scene looked  better  than  the  Amiga  one. Why? Most of the
 coders and graphicians  of  the  Atari  scene  were  really   talented people.
 Without a great hardware (like the  one  on Amiga) they  could create powerful
 routines and amazing graphics, which  could  rival the best Amiga productions.
 Also, it seems that the word friendship had a better sense on ST scene than on
 Amiga one ...
{

 [I agree with your last words, and I hope people take note -Mike/Anathema]

 SD:     You made the routines  in  ISO  look  easy.  Did  you  find any of the
 routines particularly difficult?  Which  routines  in  the  demo  are you most
 proud of?  

 NJ:     In my opinion the most difficult thing  is not to code the routine but
 to do something good with ... My best routines were the mapping ones.

 SD:     What's the best advice you'd give to any learner coders out there that
 would like to code demos like ISO in future?

 NJ:     Try to begin with something  simple  and  then  progress step by step.
 Also try M&M'S !

 SD:     Now, you may recognise  the  question  I'm  about  to  ask you because
 Michael/Anathema used a similar one in  his  interview file. Anyway, I thought
 it was such a neat question and you  gave  such a good reply that I'm going to
 repeat it here...

{

    Ever since Chaos's World Of Amiga  trackmo, bitmap zoom and  rotation [Mode
 7 for Snes user -Mike/Anathema], in one form or another,  has become extremely
 popular amongst coders.  Could you please  explain the basic principles behind
 this scene phenomenon:

 NJ:     The first roto-zoom effect was made  by  Gigabyte-crew on ST. It's not
 easy to explain that technic in few words  but the principle is  simple: use 3
 points (A,B,C) forming a right-angled triangle,  rotate and zoom the 3 points,
 then interpolate between A and  B,  and  B  and  C  to  create  2 tables of 2d
 coordinates. Then interpolate between one point  of  the  1st table and one of
 the 2nd table,and use the  obtained  coordinates  as  pointers on your bitmap,
 then plot the pointed  bitmap  pixel  on  the  screen  and increase the screen
 pointer. Then interpolate with the next points  of  each table and do the same 
 thing than above. You can use a  copper-screen emulating a chunky screen for a
 better speed.

 SD:     As you have no doubt noticed, a lot  of ex. Amiga scene guys have left
 in favour of the PC. Are you planning  on  leaving the Amiga scene in the near
 future? Please give your reasons:

{

 NJ:     It's sure that PC computers are  very attractive: Powerful CPU, Chunky
 screen, Nice Sound cards (but not  really better than Amiga sound capacities).
 But with some tricks you can do great things on Amiga (look at the first Amiga
 demos: Did they need something else than a 7Mhz CPU to be forever demos ?). If 
 you watch PC demos you can mostly see  big 3DS objects slideshows, but is that
 enough? Certainly not! A  demo  is  firstly  an  artistic production, the most
 important thing is not the machine  power  but  the producers skill. What made
 famous Amiga,ST and C64 demos is  the artistic approach. Nowadays, Amiga demos
 sadly look more and more like PC ones.

    Today Demomakers should look at  old  Amiga  prods (TRSI, SILENTS, KEFRENS,
 SCOOPEX...) and tie again with  what  made  the  Amiga reputation: Quality !!!
 Amiga is  better  than  any  PC  because  of  his  glorious  past  and quality
 tradition, that's why I don't plan  to  move  on  the PC scene for the moment.
 (And I hope I never! Thanks to the next generation Amigas!)

 SD:     There has been a lot of talk  about what features the next  generation
 Amigas will have. If you could choose  one hardware enhancement or addition to
 improve the standard of scene productions, what would it be?  (i.e. 16 channel
 sound, true multi processing, etc.)
{

 NJ:     The most important thing should be  a  truecolor screen ! But a faster
 CPU (power  PC),  a  better  sound  (16  bits)  and  a  tower  design  will be
 appreciated !

 SD:     Please give me the  names  of  your  favourite  people  in each of the
 following scene categories: coder, graphician, musician, swapper and also your
 favourite demo of all time:

 NJ:     Coder          çd-  Boogeyman/PSN
         Graphician     -  Made/Bomb software,
         Musician       -  Doh/Dreamdealers, Michael/Anathema
         Swapper        -  Gangsta/Scx
         Favourite demo -  Mental Hangover/Scoopex !

 SD:     Is there anyone/anything on the scene you particularly dislike? Why?

 NJ:     Lame people who pass their time on criticizing other people work while
 they never released anything good ! (No name: everybody know them ...) 

 SD:     If you were kicked out of  Scoopex  tomorrow and could choose to  join
 ANY group, which would it be? What aspect of this group do you most  admire?{

 NJ:     I hope I'll never  been  kicked  out  of  Scoopex  (please Antibyte !)
 because there is a real great idea of what means friendship on that group. But
 in the case I'll be kicked off, I'd  like  to join a group like PASSION (great
 demos) or ANATHEMA (great friendship) or ARKHAM (great delirium).

 SD:     After ISO I'm sure everyone  can't  wait  for your next production. Do
 you have any future demos/intros planned?  Who  else  is working on them  with
 you and when can we expect to see them?

 NJ:     I'm working on the sequel of ISO for the next Saturne party with
 Made/Bomb and NHP/Scx. Also on  a  Slideshow  with  Eremation and Gods (coming
 soon). The sequel of  Manga-Art (slideshow) is also planned with my friends of
 Arkham. I also planned to code a demo with my friend Antibyte/Scx.

 SD:     If you were granted one wish, what would you wish for?

 NJ:     The absolute knowledge (what else should be more attractive ?)



{

 SD:     Sadly you have reached the end of this interview Ninja. I'd just  like
 to thank you for your time and I  look  forward to seeing more cool prods from
 you and Scoopex in future! You may  now  say  anything that's on your mind and
 maybe greet some friends, etc.:

 NJ:     Thanks for that interview, quick hellos to my friends on:

          *Scoopex*, *Bomb*,  Oxygene,  *Anathema*,  Hoodlum,  Smellon  design,
 Agoa, C-Lous, Distorsion and  specials  to  my  favourites:  Jester, XTD, Doh,
 Boogeyman, Made.


}