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mistigris! 4,,: , jl
june 2024! 7 abs ** ,.
Greetings to the Very Small but Very Dedicated community of artpack infofile
readers! Im writing this on the summer solstice, so here we are, basically
halfway through the year, trying to set up our first unthemed artpack release
since last summer. Weve had plenty of packs come out since then, of course,
but always constrained in an uptight fashion around observing specific themes
or subjects. But what happens to the art members of our community make that
fails to engage those themes? What happens is... it sits around for a long
time until we get around to making space on our schedule for one of these
unthemed collections to take place. So its always an exciting occasion to
release an unthemed pack, yielding a kind of resolution to art thats been in
limbo -- created, but not yet widely seen, and sometimes kind of forgotten
about.
For starters, were thrilled to play host to what must surely be the first
artpack appearance of Tapio, the sole developer of Uncultured Games, who has
finally just released his Whispers in the Moss textmode JRPG at long last
after years of slipping us regular sneak peeks into the enormous quantity of
incredibly constrained and super small-scale bespoke textmode illustrations
hes been cooking up for it. Some exceptional samples are included for your
enjoyment, but for the full meal deal you need to find your way to your
favorite PC game digital storefront Steam, GOG and Itch.io will all do and
buy a copy to play through, allowing you to experience the art in its intended
context!
Something else featured in this artpack includes screens members of our
community made to compete at demoparty compos including eg. Nova and
Flashparty that, to avoid no prior release entry conditions, didnt wind up
being included in contemporary artpacks in a timely fashion, or that didnt
coincidentally manage to resonate yet with one of our grim parade of themed
releases. Theres quality, prize-winning textmode work here in the teletext,
AMSCII and ATASCII mediums, mostly by Illarterate, that simply slipped between
the cracks. For the unthemed packs we get out the can of compressed air and
see just what we can surface from those cracks. Ooh, goldfish crackers!
We also offer a veritable catalogue of ANSI screens by Mavenmob and more
generally speaking art by creators working on their own projects who we dont,
for themed reasons, get a chance to showcase in every pack -- rare birds like
Adel Faure, Axb, Mozz, Zeus II and Vermileonhart who this may be the end of
the line for, at least for the time being! He came in strong and leaves at
the top of his game!
Of course, the work by our regulars is also in full effect here, with plenty
of well worthwhile screens by the likes of Atonalosprey, Blippypixel,
Littlebitspace, Nitron... what does Darkman Almighty draw when hes not in a
Star Trek mood? Believe it or not, its NOT a Zen koan! Even I, your
humble infofile writer, have been moved by the occasion to draw a few screens
on deserving and personally significant topics that would most likely never
come up in our scheduled slate of themed artpacks. And you will notice a
couple of heel-dragging latecomer screens that might have been better fits for
our fine art collection this past April, but which we wont obligate to sit out
another four years waiting for the next one. I cant in good conscience
neglect to shine the spotlight on a suite of ANSI art salutes by LDA paying
tribute to many of his textmode art fellow travellers here in the extended
Mistigris computer arts community. Its genuinely heart-warming.
I have just learned, just before release and quite a while after this was all
written, that the great Alpha King represented somewhere in this artpack in a
small way. You would never know it if I wasnt mentioning it here, but credit
goes where credit is due! Why not drive yourself nuts looking for his guest
blocks?
A big thanks to Abstrakt for the dope guest newschool ASCII art FILEID.DIZ
design, also used at the top of this very infofile about three and a half pages
ago you can see more of his work in recent Fire packs and to eRUPT for the
oldschool ASCII art logo in the memberlist header you can see more of HIS
handiwork in the latest iMPURE joint!
Keep the dial tuned in to Mist for more releases upcoming this year on
various subjects and in different formats. Whatever plans we might care to
make, theres no getting around the fact that were celebrating our 30th
anniversary this fall, so if you think you might like to be part of the
festivities, maybe you should start getting ready now! In the meantime,
weve got a Blender improvised computer art competition coming up July 20-21,
so there are many ways to be part of the fun.
In closing, I should note that Illarterate recently joined TeletextR for a Byte
High No Limit production of a podcast documentary celebrating the 50th
anniversary of teletext, featuring, among other luminaries and folks whose
teletext work youve seen dozens if not hundreds of times in Mist packs... and
also a veritable ton of Blippypixel music arrangements. Its free and if you
have any curiosity about the medium after years of my pushing it out at you
regardless, it might prove illuminating:
In 1974, a brand new technology called teletext was being rolled out. It
would, over the next few decades, have far-reaching implications, not only in
the UK but worldwide.
These are the stories of those involved in the production, restoration and art
of the blocky medium that graced UK TV screens until 2012. Youll hear from
the pioneers, those who made teletext tick, and the newcomers keeping the
medium alive 50 years after its inception.
This is a social record of teletext, and these are the teletext people.
Thats it for us for this month -- see you around cyberspace!
OK, I lied. In a hobby based around vintage specs and standards dating back
decades, there are relatively few stop the presses! moments. But since its
breaking news of sorts, Id like to take this opportunity -- slightly more than
a week after the summer solstice and the initial drafting of this infofile --
to end on a moment of silence in observance of the passing of Brian Hawk
Hubbard, SysOp of the ACiD Underground, Black Flag and Piranha BBSes, who
provided grounding and essential connective tissue for 21st century enthusiasts
of underground ANSI and RIPscrip! graphics and bulletin board systems.
Though our paths never formally crossed, he made a big mark on our shared
community, and it will be a diminished place in his absence. His BBSes will
continue running beneath the custodial oversight of m00p of Slime City BBS, so
you still have an opportunity to log in and experience his best in show
demonstrations of the way thing once were in cyberspace.