Interview with Alexei Astafyev
by aGGreSSor
We offer you an interview with Alexei Astafiev
better known as Alex Raider / Flash Inc. For the first time,
this material was published in the Journal of Amiga Power
Amiga, but we believe that it will be no less interesting and
Spectrum public.
tPA?: You have many names: Alex Astafyev, alias Alex Raider,
most sinkleristov known simply as Wakson of Flash ...
Alex Raider!: Absolutely not. Wakson and Alex Raider are
different people. Look at us on our website: www.flashinc.da.ru.
tPA?: Oops! Nakladochka ... Then two questions today: How
it all started and do you know than it is now occupied by other
member'y Flash Inc. Slack Den, KVS, Dr. Bars, Madge, Wanderer,
Las, and he himself Wakson (we still hear his music?)? Is it
possible to say that, despite the intervening years, Flash Inc.
still exists in the works of his (former? / real?)
member'ov?
Alex Raider!: It all started in the last years of school in 1989
year. We payali "The Specialist" and "Spectrum", played "halts"
life, disassembled the source code. Do not know the command
system address space of the computer and hex-number system was
impossible. If more precise, it is impossible to assemble an
amateur computer, without imagining how the microprocessor, its
system commands, etc. I stuffed my hands kilobytes
hex-numbers with the journal pages. Sometimes we did it
together, to hearing. So it was great desire to play the game.
Remember? - Was this method of "distribution" programs. Most of
our activity remained, undetected, because the disappeared in
cassettes. These were games, music editors, patched
toys, pieces of iron (I payal light pen hardware and hardware
Drum Machine (drums), not to mention Covox'y,
SounDriv `s and Vaksonovskie modems, which he provided all of
us). Few demos - it's all that came to people. Floppy drives
128 KB of memory appeared in our country is too late, because
we are too too early to start. I have once wrote, as we
spontaneously appeared genre of "Demo" - I copied a number of
screensavers with Game "Hyper Active ". Fortunately, it is not
lost, and after reading a magazine and Add music and running
the line we have "Remember this". Misha is very timely engaged
in manufacturing their own music editors and became a musician.
I'm not doing music altogether. Need to clarify that the words
"music editors and "Game", I certainly do not mean such solidly
made things like ProTracker, SoundTracker. They were a mixture
of BASIC and assembler, but it was all done somehow ...
soundly, I suppose. However, at this stop. History of Flash is
quite interesting and I think that it should write separately.
... Those guys that were called Flash, now reside in
informal way, but we often meet. As a rule,
Party is from three to twenty people. A number of people
continuing hanging out at the Spectrum. This Fikus-Pikus, Las,
Slack Den, KVS. I remained at a virtual Spectrum. Although I
have a lot of boards and other Spectrum Electronics, but I
never met a more or less stable implementation of the Spectrum.
Maybe if someone to revise the Pentagon or the pros on PLIS /
SIMM, then I would have even soldered. Music Waksona no one
will hear. It's sad, but he completely away from anything that
somehow would be like creative activity, but it's not
depressing me, because I I understand that if you want I can
put together a team and that is gone, then gone. There are
other ways, and people. Instead, music can Vaksona hear the
music of MCF (we all call the ITF). He Quadro, he also Dark
Force, he also Ethernal Motion. His few people know, but he was
quite a good programmer, and if it were not buying in 1996 Good
PC, then it would be known. I hope that this eccentric guy
still put on public display their music, which he has folded in
a drawer.
tPA?: ... At a time when the vast majority
Spectrum magazine positioned the Amiga as the following
platform for each sinklerista after / with Spectrum, you
went to work on PC demoscene. How did this happen? At the moment
you choose not intersect with the Amiga? ..
Alex Raider!: I do not take any active part in
Demoscene. I emphasize that active involvement. Passively as
Observer - I sceners forever, that's for sure. Amiga - it
actually an evolutionary transition to sceners. In general,
owners of C64 or Spectrum passed on Ammy. However, in my
Life turned out that I only very exceptionally
had to buy their computers, and before that something vital
more important. That's why, for a long time I had a situation
"Shoemaker without shoes," I spent several years programmed PC.
I always had access to a PC the latest models, so I do not want
home 486 `th or early stump, as did many here -
my desires cost more money, and I could not for a long time to
implement. When this happened, it was clear that the Amiga
is not so much the present as the past ... Nice, but
past.
tPA?: Ie a while you still owned the real
Amiga? Or you could watch it live with someone of your friends
scenery / member 's FlashInc.?
Alex Raider! Yes, Mystery owner of the A1200, and Alexei
Kovrigin too. I am also looking to buy A1200, if a good offer.
For collection.
tPA?: What would be the moment to influence your choice, so
that the Amiga Community acquired, in your face yet another
competent coder? ..
Alex Raider!: Clarify - I have an encoder in the concept of the
Spectrum, Amiga, etc. But in terms of global, I'm still a
programmer. There is such a stupid trend, and it must be borne
in mind that the coders were call the so-called "Monkey" - that
is, people who are dumb shift on the SI, Pascal or Asm
developed by someone algorithm. I'm going to buy the Amiga and
even trade them in Novosibirsk, Novosibirsk, Russia but
geographically - Siberia. Path purchase in the form of sending
money "train" me as a sensible man that is not pinned. Moscow's
prices were also more than overestimated. Purchase amateur
machine with no hard drive and Monitor for $ 500 seemed
doubtful. Professional Amiga is worth $ 1000 and above. Coupled
with the difficulty dostavaniya ON All this made the Amiga a
very attractive, but ... Inappropriate.
tPA?: Now the average cost of low-end classic line: A1200 $ 100,
More Accelerator - $ 100 - $ 250 and assume PCI-bridge for
comfort - $ 100 - $ 120. Total obtained $ 300 - $ 470 and that
does not include HDD / Monitor / Video / housing, etc. is in
fact, we pay the money for the motherboard and its improvement
and the output we get the computer hung with PC-periphery,
The only advantage, which is that "it is still
Amigo ". Do you think it's expensive for stsenovoy (potentially
stsenovoy) machine?
Alex Raider!: To begin with, that all the computers on sale
- B / W. Moreover, B / Y is not a month or two, and 5-6, if not
more, years. This another important fact. For equipment 93-96
years, but still second-hand, prices are too high.
tPA?: How do you think about programming languages other than
C / Asm (in Russian Amiga scene there was a tendency to deny
all that exists apart from them, as opposed to the stage
of bourgeois)?
Alex Raider! I spit on the final sale. I would be able to
programming on anything;)
tPA?: ... "natives" with the Spectrum did a lot for
Russian Amiga demoscene: rst7 now busy developing a
GB ...
Alex Raider!: If GB - Game Boy, it's curious. I do not
knew ...
tPA?: Yes, the last extant information was that rst7
almost completed the arrangement, some of dizzyatin under
GameBoy and suggested it CodeMasters, and those not nominated
satisfied with his condition and explained that the popularity
of Dizzy distant past and move them under the GB
maloosmyslenno. Enough it all sounds crazy, well then, they are
rumors ...
Alex Raider!: Why, I do. How did so and succeeded. Need
was first to negotiate with all of Codemasters.
tPA?: In general, the Spectrum for example, encoders are often
pondered over the question of the level of their compliance
programs best bourgeois samples. I am interested in this
question, as you think, "natives" from the Spectrum in the
transition to other platform can remain competitive relative to
bourgeois, to continue his creative work, work,
Finally on the other platforms on the same high level, which
They "mark" on the Spectrum or is it sporadic?
Alex Raider!: Yes, the chances that come Spectrum
will be successful in the Demos / Games. If you overcome the
damaging the impact of "big" platform;)
tPA? After all, there are also "reverse" examples of known
Spectrum coders / muzykanty / artists in the transition to
PC / Amiga did (and still do) things that are more than
commonplace, lost some its "I" in their work ...
Alex Raider!: Is lost because the PC / Amiga dissolves because
too many people. It has long been noted.
And Part 2>> .... AAAAAAAA
.... <
voted for rdc, and tPA as well. The problem is that not
from whom to choose. But when the question was changing
moderator there was no active flow of users on the Amiga, which
appeared now and continues to grow. And now that "divine"
halo that has surrounded himself with a moderator, as well as
those who consider themselves "advanced" and have no personal
experience, but contained moderator ru.amiga faq (Correct would
be call rdc amiga faq) - all this threatens to lead to greater
problem in the near future.
Alex Raider!: Honestly, I'm looking at all those "pulling" with
inflows and outflows of people just laughed. It is true
funny. I do not know, maybe I came out of age and is
effect. Who cares, a lot of people or a little? People have
people, and who does what he wants - he and those involved.
From the minimum of fuss, (And this is vanity), nothing useful
will be. Useful - in how to produce magazines, writing articles
and so on. K example, there is a great magazine, "Computerra.
It seems to me that if all amizhnikam chip in, you can make
your "theme Rooms in Computerra, and its circulation 50,000
copies + regional newspapers + online site. But you need to
really lift a finger to knock, that is, one must
write about the iron, other of the operating system, a third of
trackers, the fourth of graphics packages, etc., tell us
where the roots are, tell us about the demoscene. Journalists
are enjoy. But you need to write professionally, and not just
"all works perfectly, the music is playing, drawing flies, I
feel at ease ... "It's trite and hackneyed, and no interest
attract. Recently in? Computer? was the theme rooms - line
"XP" products from Microsoft, where they defecate in unison last
Microsoft's products, which eat 256Mb/Pentium III, no
enough without being confused and all are also slowly opening
windows and program ... Tomorrow will go 1 Gb RAM and say, 10
Ghz 64-bit processor. But still, the menu will slowly
open for 1-2 seconds, and windows apparently repainted. I
seems Amiga fans could cooperate among themselves to
In order to explain why AmigaOS is the best Operating System and
much more. So the main task - not to abuse each other and
do not waste time in vain trying to find out what piece of iron
better. Piece of iron will be piece of iron, the main thing -
people. And, because we are united by the fact that we have a
common hobby - we we need to unite.
