Article-I.D.: amiga.417
Posted: Wed Dec 18 22:52:14 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 20-Dec-85 05:33:37 EST
Reply-To: rj@wizard.UUCP (Robert J. Mical)
Followup-To: All these articles about the ST Bonk program
Distribution: net.micro.amiga
Organization: Commodore-Amiga Inc., 983 University Ave #D, Los Gatos CA 95030
Lines: 41
Summary: The AMIGA is more than just a Boing demo

I have been out of town for a while, and have come back to find a great
uproar about the ST's attempt to copy the AMIGA Boing demo.  This all 
seems a bit ridiculous to me, so I thought I would comment.

In the first place, this ST program is not a "copy" of Boing.  There's 
differences, like the fact that the shadow is faked with line drawing, 
while the AMIGA Boing has a drop shadow that follows the ball and changes
the color of both the grid and the background.  Also, have you heard 
the AMIGA's great booming sound, and compared it with the ST's
more modest tinkling?  But these sorts of comparisons are just
superficial.  What else can the ST do while it's bouncing a ball?  

Has anyone seen other ST demos that match the AMIGA?  Has anyone seen
a RoboCity (real-time honest-to-goodness animation) or a Fields (area-fill
measured in hundreds of polygons per second, not seconds per polygon) on
an ST?  Genloc?  Hold-and-Modify?  Real-time frame grabbing?  But these 
are just graphics.  How about a good number crunching demo?  More 
importantly, how about a good multi-tasking demo?

The ST can do a rough copy of the AMIGA Boing demo.  But the ST
doesn't bounce balls and juggle other jobs at the same time, including
running a text editor to write a note such as this one.  I understand 
that the ST is running up against its stops to mimic the AMIGA Boing.
The AMIGA, on the other hand, has a vast percentage of its processing 
power still available while it Boings that ball around the screen.

So why such a fuss?  I've seen Boing attempts on the Mac and the C64 too!  
So?  I think it's a great compliment paid to we who created the Boing 
demo, that so many should try to duplicate it.  It makes me proud.  
Our Boing *is* a pretty good demo, though I've seen much better on our 
machine.  Wait'll you see some of the forthcoming software from places 
like EA, software guaranteed to not separate the men from the toys.

Someday a machine will come along that can better the Boing demo.  I hope 
that I'm on the design team for that machine too.  Until then, I think we 
could do with a little less bother, and just enjoy what we've got.

=Robert J. Mical=

(DISCLAIMER:  since I'm one of the Amiga originals, please disregard
this entire message as simple hype :-) )

Article-I.D.: aum.413
Posted: Fri Dec 20 11:48:10 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 25-Dec-85 00:32:12 EST
References: <417@amiga.amiga.UUCP>
Distribution: net.micro.amiga
Organization: The Aurora Systems Bunch
Lines: 22

 >  I have been out of town for a while, and have come back to find a great
 >  uproar about the ST's attempt to copy the AMIGA Boing demo.  This all 
 >  seems a bit ridiculous to me, so I thought I would comment.
 >  
 >  In the first place, this ST program is not a "copy" of Boing.  There's 
 >  differences, like the fact that the shadow is faked with line drawing, 
 >  while the AMIGA Boing has a drop shadow that follows the ball and changes
 >  the color of both the grid and the background.  Also, have you heard 
 >  the AMIGA's great booming sound, and compared it with the ST's
 >  more modest tinkling?  But these sorts of comparisons are just
 >  superficial.  What else can the ST do while it's bouncing a ball?  
 
etc etc etc Boy would you Amiga people get off the back of our ST. Are you guys
that insecure about an inanimate object of silicon and metal. Just relax, its
Christmas!! :-) We like our Volkswagen just fine. You can have your Fins.

-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                           Erik James Freed
			   Aurora Systems
			   San Francisco, CA
			   {dual,ptsfa}!aum!freed