
]          DEVIANT DESIGNERS
]          =================

     The Ozzie Doc Disc Compilers


]WHAT ARE WE?

We are the only group that we know of 
that exclusively produces Doc Discs 
for the ST.


]WHO ARE WE?

We are a couple of ST lads from 
Australia. Our handles are Effead and 
Effall, and if you had ever met us, 
you would understand how we got these 
names! Effead does all the hard work 
(programming), and Effall does a lot 
of the tedious work like packing 
files, robbing BBS's of useful text 
files and pulling Amiga doc discs 
apart to get at docs we can use.


]WHY ARE WE?

Sewer Soft were producers of great 
doc discs that we found useful. When 
they broke up and gave the ST scene 
away to go to IBMs there was a great 
hole in that scene. At the time I was 
working on some routines to pack text 
files better that the other packers 
available at the time. The logical 
extension to this routine was to take 
over the production of doc discs - so 
we did.


]WHERE DID WE GET THAT NAME?

We got together originally to produce 
some good old fashioned computer 
porn. Converting IBM GIFFs to Atari 
format and squashing them onto a 
slide show disc. The set of 8 shows 
is called Heads and Tails. Not the 
highest quality pics, but plenty of 
them!! - about 40 compacted screens 
to a disc. The name fitted with the 
work we were doing, and it has stuck. 
Besides, Deviant Designers Doc Disc 
sort of rings when you say it.

The observant ST users may have 
noticed that volume 1 of Heads and 
Tails was written by the Deviant 
Developers. This was our original 
name, but somehow I changed it to 
Deviant Designers when I was putting 
the loading screen together for 
volume 2. As my name says...
What an Effead!


]WHAT DO WE DO DIFFERENTLY?

Well, we produce compacted doc discs, 
and our compaction routine is better 
that any other available on the ST 
(for text files anyway). This is 
technically a lie, as the files are 
double packed.

Firstly I use my routine which is a 
simple word/letter group/repetition 
replacement routine, and then the 
files are packed with the most 
excellent Atomik Packer. Using this 
method we get files about 20 percent 
smaller that with Atomik alone. The 
added advantage is that the files are 
de-Atomiked on loading, but stored in 
memory still Effeaded packed. A 300k 
file will only take about 160k of 
memory.

The disadvantage is that block 
printing and search are very 
difficult to implement.

We are getting about 2megs of docs on 
a disc, averaging out at about 90 
docs. We have only released 7 doc 
discs (1 to 6 plus 4.5!) to date, but 
the total file count is something 
over 500 and total file size is 
something around 10-12 megs!

Doc disc numbers 7 and 8 should be 
released by time you read this, soon 
to be followed by disc 9.


]HOW ARE WE CONTACTED?

Several ways come to mind...

- Through your normal supplier.
- Through Bad Boys Belgium.
- Write to our Australian address 
  that is on all the doc discs.
- Write to our UK address that is 
  also on the doc discs.
- Through Teddystacker.
- Yell bloody loudly.
- Check out the BBSs in you area (not 
  the legal ones, duffer!)
- Put a note in a bottle, cork it, 
  throw it in the sea and wait   
  sixty nine years or there abouts 
  for an answer.


]WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR US?

Send us docs. It takes a hell of a 
lot of collecting to get 2megs of 
docs together, and the more the 
merrier. We especially need more docs 
for ST utilities. The doc displayer 
can also display low and medium 
resolution pictures, so you can also 
send maps drawn with any art package 
for your favourite adventure games.


]WHAT ABOUT OUR FUTURE?

We will continue to release ST doc 
discs as long as we are getting ST 
docs. We both plan to get Falcons in 
the near future, and hope to produce 
Falcon compatible and/or Falcon 
specific doc discs. The whole thing 
depends on compatibility and the 
number of docs we can get. Can you 
imagine a Falcon doc disc - extended 
format to hold 1.8megs - multiply 
this by about 3 to get 4-5megs of 
compacted docs on one disc! Wow!

I can see a headache coming on 
designing the menu screens.


DO I HAVE A FINAL MESSAGE?

You bet ya little bippy I do.

The ST scene is slowing down. Many 
groups and/or individuals have left 
the ST for one of several reasons. 
Some have left to go to the Amiga, 
some are sick of the ST and are 
waiting for the Falcon, some have 
gone to IBMs, some probably have gone 
to jail, and some seem to have 
vanished off the face of the Earth. 
(kidnapped by bug-eyed aliens?) The 
game makers have also quit the ST 
scene to some extent (they say there 
is not enough profit in making ST 
games - note, this does not say no 
profit), and in Australia, the number 
of ST retailers have been drastically 
reduced - a sign of how bad Atari is 
at marketing in Australia? Getting 
hardware, good cracks, docs is 
getting more difficult.

On the other hand, the number of ST 
users has recently increased because 
of the tremendous price reductions 
offered by Atrai on STEs to dump them 
(I know that is cynical, and I 
probably should say that Atari is 
trying to increase market awareness 
of the Atari name before the Falcon 
is available in numbers!). The price 
of 1040 STEs has recently been 
reduced from $899 to $599, and last 
week to $399.

There is still a large number of new 
ST users out there wanting games, 
utilities and docs. Some of those 
users will be competent coders, 
musicians and artists (if not yet, 
then soon), and if we let the ST 
scene die their work will never be 
seen.

My message is a simple one. If you 
do not support the ST scene in any 
way besides getting free games and 
utilities then get active or it will 
die along with your supply lines. 

Encourage game makers to write ST 
stuff by writing long and begging 
letters.

Write to the cracking groups giving 
them any praise they deserve.

Buy an original and send it to a 
group to crack. The game makers make 
a profit and the rest of us get to 
enjoy it as well.

Send us docs in any format.

Spread the word that Atrai is not 
dead and is a viable alternative to 
any other home computer.

Spread the stuff you have - don't 
sell copies as you may end up in the 
clink. Swapping is a great way to 
meet new friends and get invited to 
wild parties!!!

Deviant Designers will continue to 
support the ST as long as we are 
supported. When we stop getting docs 
we will give it away. Many other 
groups think along the same lines, so 
get in the act and support the scene. 
A lot of people spend a lot of time 
putting menus, demos and cracks out. 
Do your bit and become a member of 
the scene yourself.

       ...Long live the ST...


