Issue 35: Sep 2003
Features
- | Foreword
- | Tip of the day
- | Going To The Dutch, Part 2: Henk Robbers (XaAES)
- | Unconventional 2003
| Unconventional 2003 continued... Sunday 31 August 2003 Joining me in the late night owl club this time were the MNX crew and R.I.K., the mad funsters were playing Worms on the Jaguar and enticed me to play as well. I could still remember my embarrassing defeat (mainly caused by suicide) in this game at JagFest UK so pleaded to be given time to practice, but I joined the game anyway. All of a sudden I understood it and was wiping everything out with the homing missile, even if it was standing right in front of me. This game was simply hilarious fun! We played for hours and were still at it by 05:30, sipping energy drinks brought by R.I.K. and TXG while Fox-1 seemed intent on poisoning himself with a mixture of beer, coffee and rum. Slowly, the other guys went to sleep one by one, which left me free to play... SuperFly! I knew it was hopeless trying to match the Butscher's score but my head was buzzing and I needed to practice. Full of caffeine, there was no chance I would sleep now so I played until dawn again. When Helmut arrived at the hall, he was already starting the cleaning up operation. As others woke up, I went with Charlie Chaplin to the petrol station for some food. I had foolishly walked down the hill earlier expecting to be able to buy some food at the shops, none of which were open. It was Sunday, of course, but in the UK we're used to Sunday opening. Mad Butscher was adding up the scores from the gaming challenges when we got back - from here it was a very slow moving and relaxed atmosphere as people started to pack things away ready to leave. I spent my time playing Club Drive, I even managed to crash the game, or at least get the car wedged at an angle all wheels off the ground so it could no longer move, and some children asked TXG if they could play Worms on his Jaguar. It was early afternoon when the prize-giving ceremony was started. The prizes had been laid out on the stage long before. Mad Butscher scooped most of the nice ABBUC coffee mugs, it was suggested he should win another one for having the most! The final spectacle was watching the MNX crew attempt to pack everything back into TXG's car. Various people offered help, including Floppy Doc with an ingenious optimization of selected boxes, unfortunately it didn't account for a few extra boxes that would have to be fitted inside as well. Fox-1 took the brute force approach and we heard the distinct sound of cracking PCB, the Alpine board, maybe? Helmut started filming this event and we all look forward to it! In the end they were taking beer bottles (even the empty ones, because they have to return them to get some money!) out of bags and inserting them into every available space, it was like one of those puzzles where you have to carefully stack or remove objects as far as possible without the overall structure collapsing! One notable tradition we missed this year was a group photograph, though some people didn't forget and I did some small group shots instead, namely the Czechs, and Wizard and Bunsen of the WGL. Mad Butscher and I packed his car very quickly, there was not much to load. Our journey back to Wiesbaden was relaxed and we travelled earlier than in 2001 so it was daytime all the way. At one stage we saw three traffic accidents within 15 minutes, the last one being an overturned petrol tanker, then on final approach it started raining. We got back in time for me to meet R.I.K.'s wife, who'd been shopping with Mad Butscher's girlfriend, Nicole. To finish the day we went to a local "international" restaurant, which was actually owned and run by Indian people and of course curry was on the menu. I opted for a Madras, it was far tamer than what we're accustomed to in the UK (and yes, I do know what home-cooked Indian curry is like) but all very enjoyable. Monday 1 September 2003 06:00, I woke up automatically, knowing I had to be ready to be taken to the airport early, since Mad Butscher had to go to work. Nobody else was awake so I slept again and was woken an hour later. Soon, I was at the airport, I didn't even have a chance to treat Mad Butscher to breakfast because he was in a real rush. General observations In spite of the various Jaguar consoles dotted around, nobody played Tempest 2000 until I pointed it out and asked what was wrong! There were no party "releases" - unlike previous years where there were some people painting and composing for competition, this year the only artistic output was purely for leisure. No pressure. Everyone still had a fantastic time with a lot of constructive discussion going on, there will be some interesting things to come of it, for sure. None of the other UK-based MyAtari team members could make it to Unconventional. TXG from the Netherlands was there and Christoph Brincken from nearby Berlin had planned to come but an urgent print job messed up his weekend. In fact there was only one other person from the UK, Nick Harlow. I'm sure we can do better than this! Goodbye I'd like to thank the German people for their kind hospitality, especially Mad Butscher for the transport and accommodation, and Helmut for the good organization. It was a great convention, let the next one be even better! Talk later, I'm now off to play Iron Soldier... shiuming@myatari.net
Useful links
ABBUC http://www.atari-portal.net/index.php?newlang=english Foundation Two http://www.foundationtwo.de Wiesbaden Gaming Lab http://mitglied.lycos.de/gunnarbusse/bajamar/wgl8.htm
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MyAtari magazine - Feature #4, September 2003
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