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The
history of artpacks.acid.org
by
dangermouse
Artpacks.acid.org,
the artpacks archive, has been with us for almost 2 years
under its current banner, and indeed a number of years before
that being the "/artpacks" and "/ansi"
directories on ftp.cdrom.com..
This is article will wade through the history of the archive
and delve into all that the archive has given the scene..
The
beginning..
The
artpacks archive almost always did exist on the internet
as the "ANSI" directory on The
Hornet Archive, only being accessable via an ftp program.
This archive served the scene well, with hundreds of megs
of packs being stored online, offering a global access point
to packs to anyone who was on the internet.
It may
not have seemed that long ago, but it was March 1996 that
the hornet demo group decided to remove the "ANSI"
directory on ftp.cdrom.com.
Why this decision was made is unclear, though it could be
put down to ignorance of the artscene and how many people
truly believed in it, and the archive which served their
needs.
On April
7th 1996, Rad Man, Prisoner #1 and Snowman (hornet rep)
met and discussed the future of the archive over linguini.
Snowman came to appreciate how similar the art scene and
demo scene were. An agreement was made: the incoming artpacks
directory would be reinstated, under the watchful eye of
ACiD and Fire, who now had ownership of the space.
On June
15th 1996 the directory was re-openeing under the name "/pub/artpacks/".
That
same year ACiD unveiled the web front end for the archive,
labeled artacks.acid.org. The site incorporated extensive
perl scripts that ran the automatic uploading, extraction
of files, searching, and more, called the A3E (ACiD Artpacks
Archive Engine), coded by over many many hours by Shivan
Bastard. Graphics were supplied by ColorNox, who was also
responsible for the second acheron design.
In April
1997, artpacks.acid.org
acquired a number of mirror sites, so that european and
remote internet users could download their favorite packs
from a closer server, much more quickly. Pipe codes for
colouring of file descriptions by Shivan Bastard were added,
which made colour file_id.diz's available. A feature to
view ANSI files online via an applet was also implemented
thanks to Mr. Kite
July
1997 was a controversial time for the artpacks.acid.org
administrators. The implementation of a .RAR only policy
caused an uproar within the scene. The fact the scene archive
was running out of room was the main reason that this decision
was made. Later on however, banning all .ZIP files from
being uploaded did not help matters. People like Creator
went off and started their own archives, implementing a
.ZIP safe zone..
January
1998 however saw the full-time return of .ZIP files and
.RAR files to the archive, as more space was allocated to
packs. This month also saw artpacks.acid.org allow access
to its databases to c|net's shareware.com, meaning searchers
can find any artpack through the c|net service as well.
A major step ahead indeed, both for artpacks.acid.org and
the scene in general.
Where
are they now....?
Artpacks.acid.org
is still around, and still going strong. With a recent facelift
(and a much needed one), it services the scene with packs
from as far back as 1990.
One
must not under estimate the impact that the artpacks archive
has made on the scene. It essentialy served as the foray
of many groups to the internet, giving them global coverage
with a minimum of fuss. Where would the scene be today without
this resource? It's certainly hard to say. It is fair to
say however that the scene would have eventually made its
way onto the internet scene, especially given that bulletin
boards were becoming a dying breed.
If however
the scene would have been served as well remains another
matter. Artpacks.acid.org
has served the scene for a number of years with consistent
service and speed, and should be attributed to the likes
of Rad Man, Shivan Bastard and others who have bent over
backwards to ensure its success.
In closing,
let us remember what this valuable resource has provided
us over the years. It hsa allowed countless groups to release
their works to a global audiece, gaining far more exposure
than a local BBS ever could. It has provided a place to
download all of the packs from yesteryear, and most importantly,
a history of the scene in packaged format :)
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