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                   "ALIVE MAGAZINE - ERROR IN LINE SPECIAL"
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system... ST, STe, Falcon, RGB & VGA

size..... 78o KB on disk/harddisk

credits.. load gfx - no / escape
          menu gfx - exocet / pyjama
          menu msx - 5o5 / checkpoint
                     baggio & aio
                     mcl / tSCc
                     msg / reservoir gods

          articles - stsurvivor, cih, paranoid, marss, modmate...

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Here it comes, the  second ALIVE issue  within shortest time, after the official
ALIVE ISSUE 2 was released some days ago.

STsurvivor announced two complete issues, because of the big ammount of stuff he
had collected within the long times since ALIVE ONE was released, you remember?
So after a fully stuffed issue came out, another disk breaking one arrived, wow!

I leeched the  big file (again far over the DD disk space) and depacked it on my
Falcy to  check it out. The packed file  unfortunately didn't offered  any other
files except the shell and data files, but I guess there will enough information
come up in the magazine itself.

I started the  thingie right after decrunching it and the first I saw on my moni
was the  known ERROR IN LINE  logo. After  that the menu appears, it's the known
one, but  with the known  grafix from  ALIVE TWO, but because those  grafix were
nice, it isn't a real drawback.

This issue is  mainly thought as  a special issue about the ERROR IN LINE  party
held in April, and so it features reviews of all the demo releases of the party,
a few party reports, a  few scene snippets  and a big part of articles about the
topic Atari  and the new NUON home entertainment  system, but obviously the most
of those  articles were  ripped from the  Internet, and that  reminds  me with a
bitter taste  to the ST OFFLINE magazine. Overall there are about 4o articles to
check up, a quite ok ammount for a special issue, even if I wonder where all the
used space is laying then...

So let's  take a closer  look onto  the articles. Besides  the news articles and
usual party  stuff like results  files and thanx from the party  organizers, the
most interesting  ones are the  reports and reviews. Paranoids article is fairly
long and  covers a lot of  interesting things  and "events" like  sleeping  room
adventures and so on, but after all it left a bitter taste since he got quarrels
with his former friend Mad Butscher. But after all a good read and a nice way to
remember those days.

Also STS comes up with a report, featuring some funny stories as well, but while
Paranoid had  his problems  with Mad Butscher, he  also seemed to have  problems
with someone else, guess who?! ;) Anyway, a nice read and party overview as well
no question.

The reviews starting with some interesting short snippet by mOdmate who gave his
views to a few releases, shortcutted but  the ones who got laurels from him, the
"godfather" of design (huahua) on  Atari, will  surely read  his lines again and
again.
The other reviews are written in the known style, mixed by several  editors, but
I have to admit  that it seems that CiH had putted the most work into his texts,
because he  wrote fairly  detailed reviews using  several screenshots, while the
ones by  the others are sometimes  a bit short and leaving the impression  being
hacked together in a hurry.

Ofcourse a review  of UCM 21 comes up as well, but as it seems it didn't matched
it to meet the  taste of the  reviewer at all... tastes are very different as it
seems and  I don't want to loose any more words here, just check that review and
then take a look into our feedback area...

Oki, what else to check? Marss wrote (?) some articles about an old Atari mascot
and the  birth of the ST as well as he ripped a bunch of  nearly 2o articles out
of the net  about the  NUON entertainment  system, a  video gaming  system build
under license and developped by former Atari Jaguar makers.
If you like it to be entertained like that and haven't red the stuff on the Inet
by yourself so far, just  check it out, even  if there are  again signs that the
makers of NUON are stepping in the foodsteps of the Jaguar... born dead?!

So that's  already  all about this special issue... What's left except the final
words then?!

Without any doubt it is a nice special issue, actual because of the fairly  fast
release  after the party, even  if it leaves  sometimes the  impression in being
hacked  together very  fast (some  short articles, not too much use of the shell
capabilities - just a very few screenshots included). That the mag fills a whole
disk still is maybe the problem of the big music files, not of the contents, but
that isn't a point to mourn, but it's a quiet short read  after all, esp. if you
aren't that interested  in the NUON stuff that fills about 2/5 of the whole mag.
But what  do  you expect from a special issue?! There are much shorter magazines
around, eh!

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contents........  6o % - about 4o articles, but loads of internet ripps :/
shell........... ------- what to say, the same as ours ;) no rating!
shell grafix....  7o % - good looking, but -5 % for being used the 2nd time!
shell musix.....  85 % - cool eil chip musix and a weird tracker module by 5o5
loader pic......  6o % - the known EIL logo by No of Escape
intro........... ------- no intro - no rating
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overall.........  69 % - good special issue, but with several drawbacks
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.tSCc. - no promises - no demands!                                       moondog
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