Sixteen Colors ANSI and ASCII Archive

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.

One of the greatest features of Pablo Draw is the ability to connect to a server over the internet and draw with multiple people. th0r has thrown up a Pablo Server for all to use. He is keeping it running at let.the.fbi.be:700. According to th0r it is open to all styles and has no time limit. Check it out, doodle some and regain your love of ANSI.

Geek Entertainment TV has published their piece on the 20 goto 10 gallery showing. The piece runs about five minutes long and gives you a good look at the scrollers that Kevin and company put together. There’s even a small bit with me toward the end.