INTERVIEW WITH PGCS/ALCATRAZ
------------------------------------
By Lord Helmet

The man who did the design, graphics
and  some  organising  behind one of
the biggest projects/demos last year
"Odyssey" tell you all what you ever
wanted to know about "Odyssey".

---

At  what time did you start planning
the  demo?   Since some of the stuff
is  from  1990 I guess you have used
sometime?

Odyssey  was  planned  for about one
year.  In fact about 10 months.  Why
so long?  We worked very hard in the
beginning   and   then,   we  worked
slowly.   When  we  heared about the
party, we decided to speed up again,
but   in  the  middle,  the  product
didn't go up very much.


Your demo is quite similar to Thomas
Landspurg  'Virtual World'.  Did you
get some ideas from this demo in how
to make the Odyssey?

No  ideas  were  taken from "Virtual
World".   We  had  to do a such demo
for  a  very long time and we didn't
thought  that  anyone  else would do
such   a   demo   before   Odyssey's
release.   Anyway,  I think "Virtual
World" is easier to do than Odyssey.

Did you had your vector routine with
sphere  ready before the Thomas demo
was released If yes, why did you not
release the preview before?

Our spheric vector routine was ready
about  4-5 months before Thomas one.
(You  mean  4-5 months before Thomas
RELEASED  his  one  ed.)  We  didn't
thought  at  that time that somebody
would  have  the idea to make sphere
and   when  we  heard  about  Thomas
Landspurg  routine,  we  decided  to
spread   a   preview.   That  wasn't
planned,  but we weren't fast enough
and  "Virtual  World" was out in the
same time.

Do  you  agree with me that the demo
didn't  contain that much new ideas.
But  it  was the design and graphics
which was so Brilliant.

Of  course  I  agreee.   There's  is
quite  nothing  new.  The only thing
that  is new is the way we are using
the    different    routines.    For
example,  Vectorballs  plane  is not
better  than  galaxy system and it's
better  to  see spaceships than cube
in vector, so...

Don't  you think that you could have
cutted  down  the  demo a bit.  Some
effects   is   coming   over  again.
Hadn't  it  be better to shorten the
story  a bit.  And only use the best
parts of the demo?

When  we saw the entire demo for the
first  time,  we  have made the same
comments!   We  have  used  too much
fractal   landscape(I   agree  Ed.),
galaxy  system  and  the  trip  into
galaxy.   But we couldn't change the
story  at  that time, because we had
to be ready for the party and change
the  story  meaned too much work for
that.


I  guess the demo contained a lot of
work.   Did  you do this because you
wanted do:

a) Impress all Amiga Owners over the
world ?

Impress them?  Hmmm,...NO!  It's not
the right word.  It's better that we
wanted to show them new

B) Get into the charts ?

Surely  not..   I  dont  believe  in
charts.   They  are not all true and
that do not mean too much for us, so
Odyssey   was  not  made  to  be  in
charts..    But,   but...   If  you,
reader, Vote for us, I don't want to
say no!

c)  To  get  a  better chance to get
some work for a software company ?

That  could  be the reason.  To work
for  a  software  company,  we could
send  the demo and say " That's what
we  are  able  to do..", but as they
prefer   games  instead  of  demos..
Perhaps  it'll  be  usefull,  but it
wasn't the main objective


d) For FUN ?

YES!   Very much FUN!  We had fun in
doing  it  and  even  much more when
everything was over

                     < Flip Page!>

e) Just of self maintendance ?

Not for that!

f)  Because  you  want  to  show the
world that you are the BEST ?

Whaou!   We are NOT the best..  , so
we can't show the world we are.  But
it was to show the world 2 things :

1) We are not soo BAD!
2) We  still live!  As many thought
   we died!

Other  groups  are  also planning to
make  "Spaceshipjourney  demos".  Do
you think this kind of demos will be
as  common as normal vectors in some
time?

Spaceship  journey  demos is EASY to
do.   Story, gfx and music over this
is  harder.  So, many people will do
spaceships instead of cubes, but not
BIG  story  like  Odyssey.  It's too
long  to  do, anyway, if some people
do so, it'll be a great thing!

Which  demos has Hornet coded before
he did 'Odyssey'?

Before Odyssey Hornet coded:

- Some unknown demos
- Megademo for Avenger
- Spaceball part, loader of Alcatraz
  megademo IV
- Some intros, menus and other
  little things.

You  will  sure enter the Eurochart!
Do  you  think it is the demos which
decide  which  graphician  who  will
enter the Eurochart?

The   demo   or   much  more  ...the
slideshow.  There is much gfx in the
same time, that it's easier to be in
charts  than  with a single pic in a
demo.  If I am gonne hit the charts?
I don't know, why not?  I hope, even
if charts isn't my cup of tea.

Was  there  any  troubles during the
development of Odyssey?

There was trouble!  In the beginning
there  was  many  people  working on
Odyssey.   Some went out.  Moby left
us.  Greg sold his Amiga and started
on  Atari.  So we had a time without
a  musician  and we were very afraid
of  that!   That's  why we worked so
slowly  in  the  middle!   Then Greg
bought  an  Amiga  again  and things
went quickly.  As we heard about the
party, we began to work more quickly
and there was no trouble anymore.

Which  part  in  Odyssey do you like
best?

The  part  of Odyssey I like best is
the   air-shooting   one!   I  think
everyone   has   the  same  thought!
(Right!   ED)  It's  a very good mix
with  music  - vectors - gfx.  Great
cocktail!

Are  there  new projects going on in
Alcatraz or are you going to have an
long vacation after the hard work on
Odyssey?

NO vacation for Alcatraz.  There are
some   projects  in  the  head,  but
nothing  is  sure.  But we are going
to    do    something   new   again.
Something  that  you have never seen
on   Amiga.    Surprise!   There  is
nothing to tell about it, because we
must  keep  our idea safe.  But just
wait and see!

                       < Flip page>

You  are  also drawing some graphics
to  the game 'Shortgrey'.  Will this
game  be  delayed because of all the
work you have done for Odyssey.

The   game   "Shortgrey"   won't  be
delayed  by  Odyssey.   I do the two
things  in  the  same time.  Anyway,
there are graphics that are very old
in  Odyssey (8-10 months ) and I had
time  to  do  the  game then.  It'll
will  be  an  adventrue  game in the
style  of  Lucasfilm.  More than 200
screens  in  the whole game.  Coming
on  Atari  & Amiga soon!  Try not to
pirate it!  Just that time!

Is  'Shortgrey' coded by Alcatraz or
a software company?

"Shortgrey"  is  not a full Alcatraz
product.   It's  made  by a software
company  in  which  I'm working.  No
name  for  the  moment  to give out,
because  it'll  perhaps be changed a
little, so again wait and see!

How   many  pictures  was  there  in
Odyssey?

There  was  ??   pics.  I don't know
exactly.  There was about 20 piccies
+  some  logos  + many animations on
Dpaint and all little sprites and so
on.   Anyway  it's  not the quantity
which is important, but the quality,
and I hope you liked my graphics.

If  you  should guess how many hours
you  have  used  to draw the graphic
for  odyssey, how many hours of work
would you guess?

Nice  question!   Everybody  ask it!
Everybody want to know how much time
a gfx-maker take to draw a pic.  But
I don't know, sorry, because I don't
draw  a  piccy as thos in Odyssey at
one  time,  so  I've  no swatch (Eh,
Swiss pub.!) to see how many hours I
draw.

You  have  dedicated  this  show  to
Nathalie.   Was  she ever mad at you
because  you  had to draw and design
the demo?

No,  She's  not  mad at me for that,
I've  got  many  other advantaged...
End of message!

Last  question,  Do  you  think this
demo will be remembered in the Amiga
scene in 2 years.

Two  years?   I  don't  know,  but I
hope,  because it would be great for
us,   yes   ,we   in  Alcatraz  hope
somebody   will  remember  it  in  2
years.

END OF INTERVIEW.