Demonic Newsletter – 4/2023 Edition

Transcribed from an old school ANSI version of this newletter available here, or here in PNG format if you’re still old school, but also lazy.

Jack Phlash Speaks! No One Listens!

Demonic Header by Filth

As promised, we’re back with another randomly scheduled newsletter filled to the brim with interesting group and greater BBS scene news!

*crickets*

Okay, 2023 hasn’t been that exciting of a year so far. Since the last newsletter there have been some very cool art packs released by the usual suspects, but given the theme, I have to call out Rise of the Hierarchy, a killer Tradewars art pack/mod by Nitron and Warpus that’s definitely worth a look for fans of the game. A dude named Hollowone released a couple of cool PC demo scene retrospective packs (available to download from Absinthe.) The PC demo scene doesn’t get nearly enough love compared to the Amiga demo scene, which makes it all the more funny that these releases are affiliated with an Amiga board. Finally, let’s not forget Hyjinx releasing the eighth part of his “Back to the BBS” documentary series, this time focusing on the art scene. Easily one of the best episodes yet! There have, of course, been a slew of other releases, development updates, and the like, and I could go into a lot more detail about them, but these newsletters are supposed to be more about Demonic, so let’s ignore the fact that there isn’t a good central source for BBS news these days and move swiftly on…

Thanks in large part to our annual Girl Scout cookie sale, Demonic has met our financial goals for the first quarter of the fiscal year proving once again that no one can resist a box of Samoas. We’ve also continued to meet our stated goal releasing some pretty swell mods and doors, and if we keep a similar pace, this should be quite a productive year for us, likely having far more releases out than any of our peers despite our pathetically minuscule member list. Of course, exactly what we release will depend entirely on what each member is into at any particular time, and with at least two of our three members sporting some crippling ADHD tendencies, that will be as much of a surprise to us as to anyone reading this.

Still, what’s a group NFO file without spreading some bullshit rumors? I can at least say that esc has embarked on some sort of twisted crusade to update (and in some cases, remix) classic Daydream mods, so expect that to continue. jack phlash has a few bigger releases planned, including an impending update to his REFDoor door, and he might even get around to working on Darkness 2.1 and/or one of the 10 new door game ideas he has too. Meanwhile, xqtr will assuredly continue to spend his free time trying to find new and unusual ways to abuse MPL into making Mystic do a lot of funky shit it was never meant to do. Man, talking about yourself in third person feels kinda weird…

Speaking of bullshit, in an attempt to drum up some pointless scene drama, we’re throwing down the gauntlet. Phenom Productions, you have been challenged! In the grand tradition of the BBS modding scene, we will face off in a bout of competitive bog snorkeling to determine once and for all who the ultimate primarily USA-based modding group left in the scene in the first half of 2023 is. Consider it brought!

Schlongs

After rejecting exactly 370 membership applications since last September, I’m happy to announce our quality control team remains as vigilant as ever, and Demonic still consists of the same three incredible members we started with 6+ months ago. Take that!

Who are these amazing members? Well, allow me tell you all about them:

  • Name: esc – Location: Some liberal wasteland of a city in California. Pray for this man’s soul! – Specialties: Daydreaming, not drawing ASCII, Linux Combatives
  • Name: jack phlash – Location: Also a left coast city, but one with more pine trees and rain – Specialties: Pascalation, writing NFO files, declared conscientious objector in the great OS wars
  • Name: xqtr – Location: The cradle of western civilization – Specialties: Mystic fuckery, MS-DOS coding shenanigans, practitioner of the Linux Phalanx

We’re still looking for new members! Get in touch with us if you don’t mind probably being the 371th application we reject. Seriously though, we’re only interested in members who want to actually release, so mention what you’re working on and/or planning on working on if you do decide to apply.

Release’s Pieces

Peanut buttery BBS stuff in a ZIP filey shell, ready for your consumption. Yummmm!

  • JP!IR20.ZIP – jack phlash brings us another REF script for REFDoor 1.2+ that no one will care about, a rumors mod this time. This one is even less relevant, as it’s specifically intended for a release of Instinct BBS that doesn’t even exist. Like the last one of these, his justification for this is that its intended as more of a REF scripting example, and like the last one, you can fuck off!
  • ESC-HELL.ZIP – Helloween Sent v1.1 by esc is a remake of an old PVM mod for Daydream BBS/Linux. Some might be tempted to accuse esc of being lazy and unoriginal, but at least he didn’t code this using libc5 and never release the source code, now did he? Checkmate!
  • ESC-MLGN.ZIP – Maiden Login v1.1 is another remake of an old PVM for Daydream BBS/Linux by esc, and another opportunity for me to remind people that Daydream BBS exists and is pretty fucking rad. Oh yeah, it’s kind of a little quick logon type thing.
  • XQ!ANGRM.ZIP – Anagram^5 is a funky word puzzle game by xqtr that should be compatible with most systems that can support 16-bit fossil based doors. Once you figure it out it’s addictive as hell. Personally, I think you should play it at work and if the bossman gives you any shit, tell him that Demonic Productions says “shut the fuck up, old man!” and guess another letter. Man, why are these release descriptions so aggressive? I should probably get some counseling or something.
  • XQ!DOORS.ZIP – Not only does xqtr release DOS doors, he’s nice enough to tell you how to run them under Linux with a pair of guides covering DOSEMU and QEMU. These are kind of geared towards Raspberry Pi users, but no judgement here. It’s not the size that counts, or so I’ve heard…
  • XQ!NURF.ZIP – The Mystic New User Registration Form mod is a… new user registration form for Mystic. Don’t worry, the creative juices xqtr saved on naming this release he put into the mod itself. Besides, we can all agree that “NURF” is a top tier acronym. As you might come to expect, all kinds of MPL fuckery is to be had here as xqtr replaces the entire new user registration process with a lightbar-like infoform style form resembling the type of thing you might find in a group application program or something, and it even records a bunch of optional non-user data and tosses it in a text file for later, so you can actually use it as a group application too. Neato!

Yep, still feels weird!

Disposable Contacts

Need technical support? Have a mod request? Want to trade meatloaf recipes? You reach each of our respective spam folders by emailing esc at demonic.net, jp at demonic.net, and/or xqtr at demonic.net.

Of course, a much more elite thing to do would be to call our BBSes. You’re elite, aren’t you?

  • Another Droid (andr01d.zapto.org:9999) run by xqtr. Voted most likely to make you wonder if the SysOp also runs some kind of maniacal candy factory.
  • Distortion (d1st.org:23) run by jack phlash. Voted most likely to give you 1990s flashbacks if you accidentally call it at the same time as listening to a Nirvana record.
  • Monterey (not open for business yet) run by esc. Voted most exclusive BBS of 2022, and still pretty damn exclusive in 2023.

Another way to reach us on our BBSes without *gasp* having to actually call our BBSes, is all thanks to the wonders of echomail networking. If you find yourself on one of the millions of BBSes worldwide that belong to Zer0net, look for 0N-DPUB (or whatever the board you’re on called it) and prepare to have your face blown clean the fuck off. Daaaayamn!

As with last time, I’m legally obligated to mention that http://www.demonic.net still exists, but for now the real action is on my blog at https://jackphla.sh until one of eventually gets bored enough to redesign it. Don’t hold your breath.

There’s no greets section this time because it would be exactly the same as the last one. I really wasn’t lying about 2023 being boring.

Okay, I think I’ve just barely met the minimal word count specified in my contract. See you in the next newsletter!

EOF!?
—
1. Demonic Header by Filth, first released in Demonic #1 – 01/97 (1997)

New Releases – ESC-HELL.ZIP, ESC-MLGN.ZIP, and XQ!NURF.ZIP

It’s time for another batch of releases from Demonic Productions.

First up, esc has embarked on a campaign to update (and in some cases, totally remix) classic Daydream mods that relied on the relatively ancient libc5 but were unfortunately closed source. Helloween Sent v1.1 is re-code of an old PVM door/mod by Pungas and Sludge that let users edit their sent strings (AKA signatures.) Maiden Login v1.1 is also a re-code of a PVM door/mod by Pungas and Sludge, this one giving your users the ability to choose between normal, shorter, and quick logins. To make sure history doesn’t repeat itself, both of these releases include their C source code!

Next, xqtr is back with another insane mod that flexes MPL’s capabilities to do some deeper customization of otherwise wrote parts of the Mystic’s interface. His New User Registration Form is a replacement for your entire new user registration process to put the whole thing on one lightbar style form similar to old group application programs and NUV infoforms, and includes generating a text form for tons of optional questions such as group affiliation and user BBS details. As usual, this mod includes its full MPL source code for customization or just to serve as another great example for learning MPL development.

Sierra On-line Books

I read (and listen to) a lot of books related to computer history, the computer underground, and computer and video games. You know, the type of things I should probably talk a bit more about here! Actually, I’m mostly done writing a post where I quickly review a number of my more recent reads. First though, having just finished one such book, I figured I’d make a post devoted strictly to books about the history of one of the most fondly remembered classic personal computer game developers, Sierra On-line. Fondly enough for me to talk about three different books, at least!

As an aside, I’ve yet to talk much about gaming on this blog. That is definitely something I hope to thoroughly rectify as collecting and playing classic computer games is an important aspect of my interest in retro computing. Sierra On-line is one particularly big component of that, as during their heyday they were without question one of my favorite developers (and when you throw in another of my all time favorites, Dynamix, one of my favorite publishers too.) Sure, LucasArts is widely agreed upon to be the victor when it comes to the fanboy favorite argument of which of the two companies made the best adventure games, but in the 90s Sierra held much more territory in the diskette and CD-ROM boxes of my personal game collection; the Space Quest series in particular being an all time favorite.

Three Books about Sierra On-line

Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution by Steven Leary is surely one of my favorite non-fiction books; when I eventually stumbled upon it I honestly couldn’t believe I hadn’t read it much, much earlier in life. I’ll review it more generally in that aforementioned book review post, but of relevance here is the last third or so of the book which focuses on the shift of personal computer software development, while still somewhat rooted in enthusiast hacker culture, to a more commercial direction in the early 1980s. In particular, it mostly focuses on Ken Williams and Sierra On-line. Keeping in mind that this book was first published in 1984, this was a very contemporary look at what was then a fairly young version of Sierra, having only just released the original King’s Quest.

Of course the story of the founding of On-line Systems and the development of Mystery House is covered, but then Hackers moves into chapters devoted to Sierra’s close bonds with their peers, such as Brøderbund and Sirius Software, its “summer camp” like culture, and its gradual shift away from that and “hacker” ethics in general, along with all kinds of now legendary stories including the deal with IBM to develop for the PCjr, Richard Garriott joining Sierra, the noncompete lawsuit against Atari, and a whole lot more. The style of these later chapters is a bit different than those earlier in the book, feeling more like embedded journalism pieces than chapters in a book about computer history. Crucially, Hackers really provides a different take on who Ken Williams was and how he ran Sierra at the time than what I was familiar with. This is extremely fascinating stuff and absolutely essential for providing some eye opening accounts of those typically skimmed-over early years of the company.

I’m sure there had to be some, but I don’t know of anything else significant outside of blurbs posted in Sierra’s own manuals, guides, and magazine until 2018, when The Sierra Adventure was published. I was stoked. At long last someone put together a book about the history of the venerable Sierra On-line! The author, Shawn Mills, is a writer for Adventure Gamers and one of the founders of Infamous Quests, a throwback adventure game developer best known for Quest for Infamy and a couple of notable Sierra remakes. Respectable bonafides!

The Sierra Adventure isn’t quite the exhaustive chronicle of the history of the Sierra On-line and every last one of its products that many might be looking for in such a book. Instead, it attempts to approach the subject almost entirely from interviews with former employees. Quite a lot of notable people contributed the quotes that make up the bulk of the book’s content, though Ken and Roberta Williams themselves, still keeping a distance from all things Sierra at this point, are rarely quoted. Even still, there is enough here and I think the author put it together with enough love to make it a worthwhile read. I have to say, I was a bit annoyed with how the book starts, devoting its first chapter to flashing just a bit forward to talk about Sierra’s first couple brushes with death and how the company survived them before going back and starting at the beginning with On-line Systems and Mystery House in the next one. This kind of literary device often works quite well, but here it just came across like some kind of a bizarre editing snafu. A relatively minor gripe, I admit.

In 2020, founder and former CEO, Ken Williams himself, wrote and published Not All Fairy Tales Have Happy Endings. Part autobiography, part industry insider insight, Not All Fairy Tales Have Happy Endings is the story of Sierra On-line from the unique perspectives of Ken, and to a lesser extent, Roberta. While I did sometimes find the writing in need of a bit more editing (for example, Ken often repeats himself, especially from chapter to chapter) I quickly started to get in tune with Ken’s “voice” and ended up really enjoying his take. By the way, I originally listened to the audiobook version, and when I later got a printed book I was surprised to find it full of interesting full color pictures. Very much an upgrade!

Without a ton of detail, the book sometimes feels like just a bunch of strung together anecdotes, though it was all strung together reasonably well despite its numerous interludes. It certainly succeeded in satisfying my biggest hope for the book by filling in a lot of gaps about Ken and Roberta and the unique company culture that produced the games I loved so much. I was perhaps most intrigued by the conflict between Ken’s cold and detached approach to business: only wanting to work with “A players” and chasing monetary success, at times to the detriment of the company, with his more personable and generous side: hiring random locals to grow into very specialized positions and running the company like a big, fun family, and how that stuff all changed as he eventually ceded more of Sierra’s management and control to others as the company grew. I don’t know that Ken sees this as a “conflict” himself but, especially given Sierra’s eventual decline, it stood out to me. Speaking of which, this book gave me far more insight into the death of Sierra than anything else I’d read, with Ken providing a version of events that no one else has ever, or could ever, fully present around the CUC takeover and subsequent loss of control. It really is, as the title suggests, a bit of a cautionary tale.

Of course, Not All Fairy Tales Have Happy Endings is all from Ken’s point of view but, despite the obvious inherent bias there, his accounts do come across as sincere to me. Regardless, I’d highly recommend reading the sometimes overlapping accounts in all three of these books for a more well-rounded perspective. I’d also recommend reading them in the order I covered here; Ken even references his chapters of Hackers in Not All Fairy Tales. When taken together, we finally have as close to a complete picture of the company as we’re likely to ever have.

There you have it! Needless to say, these are far from in-depth reviews and I’d recommend Evan Dickens’s reviews and comparison between The Sierra Adventure and Not All Fairy Tales over at Adventure Gamers if you want to dive a little deeper than I did here.