21/06/2015: A new IIGS Demo Scene Emerging + NinjaTracker Released

Could the IIGS demo scene start up again in a place where we've never seen anything done for the IIGS before? A new Brazilian production called 'Look Behind You' by Shadow Memory has been released and it's a great first demo including some neat effects not seen before. You can find the demo on the Odds and Ends volume in the 'Demos' folder under 'Look.2015'. Not heard of the Odds and Ends volume? That's because I forgot to mention it when I originally included it on What is the Apple IIGS?, but you'll find every hard drive installable demo I've found over the years on this volume...and then some!

Of course, the 8-bit Apple II demo scene has been ignited by French Touch, whose demos are impressive even when run on the IIGS. Be sure to check them out too. But Shadow Memory is hoping to find collaborators to assist with graphics/illustration and music sequencing for future productions. Email him at supersecret@apple2.gs if you'd like to contribute to new awesome and cool IIGS demos.

By the way - the music player comes courtesy of NinjaForce, called NinjaTracker. It's the same music engine used in their Mega Demo and Kaboom! (hope you all got the version 1.0.1 update) productions. What's the difference between this, SoundSmith and Amiga MOD format? Well, part of the NinjaTracker package is MOD Convert II, which will precisely convert Amiga MODs to NinjaTracker format with all effects intact. The compromise is that you can only have up to 64k of instrument data, as much that can fit into the Ensoniq's DOC RAM, allowing muisc playback with relatively little hit on the CPU. This is great for demos and games, as the 4 channels used for music allows other channels for sound effects.

Antoine Vignau and Olivier Zardini of Brutal Delixe have made it even easier for developers to include NinjaTracker into their programs by creating a new system Tool, Tool 221, which can be easily tapped into to allow NinjaTracker music playback support.

Enjoy these new products and I hope we'll be seeing a lot more IIGS software development in light of these recent products! Apple II Forever!