Sixteen Colors ANSI and ASCII Archive

The site has had significant downtime for, well, over a month now. I have no idea what’s going on. I believe I have at least gotten the server to reset itself when there is a problem, which is better than it has been. However, I still don’t know what’s going on. If there are any Windows gurus that could help me out, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks to Prizm Sixteen Colors has added 68 packs to its collection! I have more packs from him to add as well, but they require a little more sorting through.

1. 1994 AIC1194.ZIP
2. 1994 AIC1294.ZIP
3. 1994 FTL-1294.ZIP
4. 1994 IMP45B94.ZIP
5. 1994 JUS-0994.ZIP
6. 1994 RAGE_294.ZIP
7. 1994 RAGE0894.ZIP
8. 1994 RCD-1294.ZIP
9. 1994 RGE1194.ZIP
10. 1994 SIN12-94.ZIP
11. 1994 WXG1094.ZIP
12. 1995 33-PIC95.ZIP
13. 1995 BLDE9501.ZIP
14. 1995 CRM-O595.ZIP
15. 1995 DFT-0495.ZIP
16. 1995 DIV-0495.ZIP
17. 1995 DPS0495.ZIP
18. 1995 DRV-0595.ZIP
19. 1995 DVS-0295.ZIP
20. 1995 DVS-0995.ZIP
21. 1995 EDEN0895.ZIP
22. 1995 FIRM0195.ZIP
23. 1995 HAIL0195.ZIP
24. 1995 HOE2_95.ZIP
25. 1995 IB123195.ZIP
26. 1995 ILLN0395.ZIP
27. 1995 INT-0595.ZIP
28. 1995 INT-0695.ZIP
29. 1995 MTN-0795.ZIP
30. 1995 MTN-1095.ZIP
31. 1995 OPP-0195.ZIP
32. 1995 PMT-0295.ZIP
33. 1995 RAIN0395.ZIP
34. 1995 RCD-0295.ZIP
35. 1995 REV-0195.ZIP
36. 1995 RISE0395.ZIP
37. 1995 RVL-0395.ZIP
38. 1995 SHV-0195.ZIP
39. 1995 SHV-0295.ZIP
40. 1995 SPAS0795.ZIP
41. 1995 SPAS1095.ZIP
42. 1995 THRS95.ZIP
43. 1995 TL-0195.ZIP
44. 1995 TL-0295.ZIP
45. 1995 TL-0495.ZIP
46. 1995 TL-0595.ZIP
47. 1995 TL-0795.ZIP
48. 1995 TL-0895.ZIP
49. 1995 TL-0995.ZIP
50. 1995 TL-1195.ZIP
51. 1995 TOA@0795.ZIP
52. 1995 UTD0495.ZIP
53. 1995 VOID0295.ZIP
54. 1995 VPR!0695.ZIP
55. 1995 VPR$0795.ZIP
56. 1995 VPR-0595.ZIP
57. 1995 WIND0195.ZIP
58. 1996 ANE-0196.ZIP
59. 1996 HN-0696.ZIP
60. 1996 HUNT96.ZIP
61. 1996 IMP45B96.ZIP
62. 1996 OIL-0596.ZIP
63. 1996 PM-0796.ZIP
64. 1996 RVL-0396.ZIP
65. 1996 RVL-0496.ZIP
66. 1996 TL-0396.ZIP
67. 1996 TPY-0896.ZIP

1. 1996 WKD-0196.ZIP

It was brought to my attention that there were two major problems with the forums.

1. The navigation was not visible in Internet Explorer (DAMN YOU Microsoft!)
2. Attempting to sign up created an error

I have planned for quite a long time to add an intricate commenting system to the site. Clearly, that has not happened. I have finally broken down and put up a simple forum. Please, jump in, start talking, and we’ll keep the community alive and hopefully increase interest in the ANSI medium.

I got a note from The Night Angel this week. I will let his words do the talking.

February 9th, 2009 will mark the ten year anniversary of the death of AWE Lettering. To celebrate, I would like to release a new pack, AWE-22. Our mission back in those days was to promote the creation of fonts. Looking back at our releases, I realize we somehow missed the point. Our packs were filled with BBS menus and templates of any kind. I wanted to elevate fonts to the rank of art. Now, all I can see are collections of graphic designs. Now, don’t get me wrong: we did produce quality fonts, but we should have produced quality art. I believe the distinction between the two resides mainly in us, as fontists, being subordinated to the requests for BBS templates, instead of creating 100 liners.

So I am inviting all of you to submit fonts, large, original, artistic lettering, for this new release. I will apply the drastic quality control an anniversary release requires, but will be available to anyone who needs help or guidance. In a month or so, I will publish a list of artists participating in that anniversary project.

Artists interested in contributing should contact TNA.

UPDATE: TNA has created a Google Group for AWE.

I am ready to get back into development of the site, and in the process a big question is brewing in my mind. Do I continue development as is, or do I make a change to allow for more collaboration? I am currently developing the site in the .NET Framework using Microsoft SQL Server. This allows me to work in the language I am most familiar with and use eto’s excellent ANSI/RIP/XBIN/* conversion engine.

There are two primary problems with this approach, however. Most importantly, hosting can be problematic. I have been fortunate to have the support of Tracker1 for many years and hosting has been free. However, the site eats up a lot of resources, and the bandwidth is less than optimal. Moving to another server would be far more costly, so if Tracker1 ever runs out of space for me or I want to push for more bandwidth, I will have to shell out a pretty penny to run the site. Second, the pool of talent is limited. I would love to get help with the code, but there are few people interested in ANSI that are able and willing to code in the .NET Framework.

Citing those two problems, I am curious if I should reevaluate the development decisions I have made. Should I switch to a more popular language to gain more hosting options and more help options. I began working on a Ruby on Rails version and was unable to get much help with it. I wonder if trying Ruby on Rails again or perhaps PHP will afford me the help I have been unable to find thus far.

So here is my question to the users of Sixteen Colors: Can anyone help? If I switch languages, is there anyone I can guarantee will be able to put some time into making this site the fantastic resource it has the potential to be? Time and motivation run short when you are the sole developer on a project. If I could get some fresh blood working with me, I think the goals I have for the site would be much more achievable. Is there anyone out there that is willing and able to help code the site in ASP.NET, PHP, Ruby on Rails or some other web development platform? If so, please contact me and let me know. I would like to start development again, and if I can get some assistance, I would be willing to make some changes.

Update: I could also use help with design, branding, and usability if anyone is so inclined.

It seems that no matter how far we drift from the days of the Bulletin Board System, ANSI continues to live on. Proof of this is evident in the creation of a new group, Blocktronics, that is attempting to use modern tools to redefine how ANSI is created and released.

The original concept was to create a Google Group where members can upload and download art. When a member has lost inspiration to work on a particular piece, they can upload the ANSI for another member to continue work on. There are, of course, a share of solo pieces in addition to the joint works, but the free sharing of art is intended to leave fewer unfinished pieces floating around hard drives across the ANSI scene.

To date, Blocktronics consists of a distinguished list of artists that, believe it or not, are actually creating new art. The list includes, but is not limited to, Avenging Angel, Enzo, ZeroVision, Skypager, Retribution, Grindstoned, The Night Angel, Big Yellow Man, Jeepee, Jack Phlash, and Sinister X.  Together they have completed more than thirty ANSI pieces and have several dozen incomplete pieces to add to the list. If you are interested in becoming a part of Blocktronics, look for the guys on IRC or on their Google Group.

Retribution has come through on his promise. The inaugural roots pack has been released. In the process it has managed to pull the likes of Jack Phlash, Ceelow and Kid Frost out of the wood works.

When I originally imported all of the packs I have on disk several failed to import. Most of this were due to the fact that the packs used a zip compression method called Decode64. I am pleased to announce that with the aid of Cake3 I have been able to unpack those missing packs. The newly added packs are:

cro0102.zip (2002)
cmm00002.zip (2000)
deg65-2.zip (1999)
deg65-1.zip (1999)
cmm00001.zip (1999)
grill-04.zip (1998)
trip0197.zip (1997)
simple01.zip (1997)
fire-a02.zip (1997)
ecl-12.zip (1997)
aphro-02.zip (1997)
aphro-01.zip (1997)
splt1296.zip (1996)
splt1196.zip (1996)
ice-spc7.zip (1996)
ice-spc6.zip (1996)
hype-04.zip (1996)
hype-02.zip (1996)
grill-03.zip (1996)
spas9508.zip (1995)
rmrs-01.zip (1994)
lbo-r3.zip (1994)
fury0794.zip (1994)
lbo-r1.zip (1993)
ice-0193.zip (1993)
acdu0393.zip (1993)
acdu0193.zip (1993)
sda.zip (1992)
rpm.zip (1992)
nc-17.zip (1992)
mirage04.zip (1992)
mirage03.zip (1992)
mirage02.zip (1992)
mirage01.zip (1992)
mirage.zip (1992)
ltd.zip (1992)
icepk-09.zip (1992)
hype.zip (1992)
hipe.zip (1992)
dead.zip (1992)
air.zip (1992)
acdu1292.zip (1992)
acdu1192.zip (1992)
acdu1092.zip (1992)
acdu0992.zip (1992)
acdu0892.zip (1992)
acdu0792.zip (1992)
acdu0692.zip (1992)

Retribution is determined to continue to live the dream. Rather than try to restate what he has to say, take a look at his announcement.