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                       THE FUTURE OF UNDERCOVER MAGASCENE
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To say the truth, I don't know right what future the magazine has at all. I have
to admit that  I have lost  nearly all my  enthousiasm  that had filled  me as I
reanimated  the magazine with  issue 21. At  those times I  really thought there
will be  enough place for at least 3 magazines in the scene. Please don't get me
wrong, I know  about the  fact that  the surviving  Atari scene  welcomes  every
little piece of software and esp. magazines. Without smashing on the shit I know
that UCM still reaches hundreds (if not thousands) of people in the little Atari
world, the  download statistics of the DHS site, the hits on the .tSCc. page and
so on are speaking a clear language.

The problem I see  and must face  over the last two and  half years  is that the
scene seems  not to be able to support  more than  just one  diskmag or it isn't
willing to do so. I don't  speak of the support in coding, grafix and musix, but
the essential things a magazine needs, articles. I didn't  had a problem  in the
past to work out  big parts of single issues alone, but I have a problem if this
is a steady state.

But somehow I had must knew about this fact. I browsed through  older issues and
found out that UCM is nearly always loosing writers and contents since issue 13.
Ok, this issue was a complete exception but  somehow I think the little war with
Maggie and  lately my break as main  editor have caused  wounds at UCM that will
bring it  slowly to death somewhen. The last  parts of the  former UCM team left
the magazine with STS to build "Alive" and so the air was very thin for building
up a completely new writers team. But I took the challenge...

I had other  things in mind  with the reanimation  of UCM with issue 21 and this
was the point  to invest  that much  work and  time into an  issue  without much
foreign help. But since issue 21 I see UCM steady but slowly falling.
The number  of included  articles (except  the regulars) isn't  the  only  sign,
that reached  the deepest point  under my editorship with issue 24, but also the
shrinking number  of external  writers. Apart from  the few guestwriters I can't
speak of an  UCM team anymore, as  there is no  team left that supports me in an
active way without begging for support.

For the last issues I wrote about 75% of the included articles (except the usual
regulars stuff) by myself, this needed a lot of  time and motivation. And I have
to  admit  that I'm  somehow  loosing both of  it. The heavy  computing times to
finish UCM 24 caused a  lot of troubles with  my GF and family and I have to set
new priorities. But those troubles  also destroyed my  motivation to invest that
much time into UCM in  the future as making UCM wasn't real fun anymore over the
last issues. In  fact I wasn't  sure if this  current issue would be released at
all and you have to thank a few chaps that gave me their hands, I don't speak of
the usual ones that  always promise articles and deliver nothing except just hot
air (pffft...), but of some people that believed in me and UCM.

Ok, so far for  the past, now to the future. At first I don't wanted to announce
another  issue at  first, over longer  times I really thought  about seeing what
support comes in and  if it wont be enough, I wanted  to stay this current issue
as the last one. But things change that fast nowadays. If UCM would die it could
be that especially for ST users no magazine would be left at all, as it is still
not save if ALIVE will go on and how. So I changed my mind in the way to go with
UCM, right. But  it depends on the  active support  I get in  articles, when the
next issue  will be released. If  it will take a  year, it's  your decision, you
want to read  it earlier, then  move your ass  and support me with article stuff
and I'll do my best that the next issue pops much faster. I have collected a lot
of ideas about things to write for the next  issue already, but as writing alone
stretches the development time to eternity, and so I wait for your move!

Again, you don't  have to write  your fingers  bloody, but  even a hand full  of
people that write one or two or three articles every one would be enough to show
me that some people really care about UCM.
Feedback is always  nice but doesn't helps to survive  in the end. I  wont enter
the BBS' and IRC begging  the people  for support  anymore as  I'm damn tired of
this.

So if you think you wrote  something of interest  that could be published in the
UCM to be  presented for  a bigger community, if you  have to say  something and
want to present your  views and  thoughts, sit down, write  it down  and send it
over to me.
As UCM is now an official and active project again, you can start right from now
on to do  something, but I wont set a deadline now, I will  sit down as well and
write down the stuff that is circulating in my mind and if I see others care and
do things as well, this might kick  me even further and you may read another UCM
earlier than you thought at this moment...

That's it for now... and think about it... it's YOUR choice...

And if you took the right decision, mail me! moondog(at)atari(dot)org

________________________________________________________________moondog_o3/2oo4_