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                        COMPILES, COMPACTS AND MORE
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Here we will take a short look onto several releases...

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...CONSTRUCT CREW MENU # oo2...

After the crappy first compact all were waiting (?!) for the second hit by Cosmo
and now he did it. The menu starts with a nice plasma boot sector, going on with
an intro that obviously isn't DCK "coded". But somehow I wonder how he stretched
his coding  skills that fast  and... it is just a ripped menu now, taken from an
old AWESOME menu  disk, he  doesn't even changed scroller font... but the scroll
text and the  chip musix, at least, even if I have the impression, that there is
something wrong with this tune, is there a channel missing?!

I wondered a bit  about this as I was told that Sunnyboy was coding an intro for
him and so there was  no real need to ripp some old intro, but it's his decision
in the end.

The disk contains  2 games, at first Thalions airflight simulation "Airbus A32o"
and at second  the public domain  game "Grav", so there is again nothing special
on it as "Airbus A32o" was released on  Pure Energy and Special FX menus over 1o
years ago. As I was  never that much  in flight sims I didn't checked it out any
further, esp. as there isn't the complete readme included, as the "2nd part with
more usefull  informations" will be  come on the next compact... Hu? The disk is
not even completely filled up?!

"Grav" itself I remember  well, I played  that quite  often as I got it  so many
years before. It's one of those gravity games, as the title already suggests.
You take over the control of a small spaceship and you have to fight the baddies
in labyrinths  on several  planets while  take them under fire. This  is a quite
tricky thing  as you have to avoid  the clash with their bullets as well  as the
contact with the walls of the caves you're flying through.
If you  don't accelerate  your ship  all the  time you  will  sucked off  by the
gravity and be smashed to the ground.
Nice game if  you ask me, but  as said, no burner and overall it has a damn long
beard already.

Conclusion: Another menu nobody  needs as it  features nothing essential, new or
            rare... not even  an original  intro... Don't want to  forget to say
            that it comes along like the previous one as ugly .ST file... baah.

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...CONSTRUCT CREW MENU # oo3...

This time Cosmo  slaps us a 4 disk menu  into the face... wow! At  the moment  I
can't  really remember  another menu  that takes  that much disx. He smashed the
complete  version  of "QUARTET 1.5" onto  the disx, furthermore as "diskfillers"
we  can  find "ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE ROBOT MONSTERS", "RUFF'N'READY" and
"THE SPY WHO LOVED ME", to close with 3 intros on the disx.

Those 3 intros are always based on the same thing, a picture, an unreadable fast
scrolly  and a  chiptune, those  things  are mixed  up a bit  to make it not too
boring...

Ok, quite a load of stuff, don't you think? The fun starts as you check out that
QUARTET easily  matches on 3 disx, with still some space left. To save this view
I repacked  the program  files (2 weren't  even  packed at  all) and cleaned the
directories from  double samples and sourcecode backups, so that even 5o KB more
space are  saved in the end. So  enough to fit on three disx and providing space
for the intros and some more diskfillers, still...

Surely, the complete package maybe  usefull for the one or other, but 4 disx are
just a little hype  that is  crap, esp. since  the provided games are old and so
often spread around that anybody should have them already.

Furthermore  the disx  misses an  essential thing  for a compact menu, readme's,
esp. for QUARTET, so this may be a long hard way for the interested user to dive
through  the program. Furthermore  I miss the promised second part of the "A32o"
readme, bad service.

Conclusion: A program  that matches  comfortably onto  3 disx is  stretched here
            over 4 disx, coming along  with a lot of useless space fillers. This
            "compact menu" turns the idea to make compacts onto the head, as the
            idea was to put as much stuff onto a single disk  as possible. After
            checking up the previous menu I checked that Cosmo completely failed
            at this task, since he leaves even several executable files unpacked
            on the disx as well  as he used mostly old packers with lower crunch
            rates (for example I saved 13 KB more on "GRAV" just  using ICE PACK
            instead  of JAM PACK...)... So CCoo3 is no  exception at  this and I
            doubt Cosmo will learn about this at all... Just wasted time...

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More? Uhhhh... after the Construct Menu 3 massacre I wasn't in the mood to check
out more stuff... :)

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