GRIND Frequently Asked Questions list:

Q:  "Why no PC Speaker or LPT DAC sound options?"
A:  Because the nature of 16-bit protected mode would royally clash with
    such stringent timing routines.  (For instance, the music routine is
    called, on average, about 70 times a second to mix the music  (once per
    frame).  A PC Speaker or DAC with a reply rate of 8000Hz would require
    that same routine to be called 8000 times a second, which, on slow
    machines, locks up the computer.)

Q:  "Why the epilepsy warning?"
A:  Because Trixter freaked out when he saw a news report about epileptic
    teenagers going into seizures in dance halls because of strobing effects.
    Besides, we wouldn't want to be liable for anything.  ;-)

Q:  "GRIND doesn't load my music file."
A:  Make sure your music file is supported:  type GRIND -? to see the list
    of supported file formats.  If it isn't listed, contact Trixter to get
    it supported.

Q:  "GRIND isn't playing my music file right!"
A:  I've tried to load and play most demoscene music file formats
    correctly.  If you get a file that doesn't play right (some S3M's don't
    slide correctly, for instance) then please get that file to me so that I
    can fix the problem, or at least work around it.

Q:  "The music skips during some video effect sequences."
A:  One of three things is happening:
      - Your computer is too slow to mix the sound fast enough.
      - Your video card is *incredibly* slow.  (Trident 8900?)
      - The music file has too many channels (does not apply to GUS)

    In all cases, select a smaller mixing (playback) rate for the music.
    If you have a GUS, then contact Trixter to get it fixed.

Q:  "The hard drive light goes on during playback, slowing down the animation.
    Are you guys writing to the hard drive or something?"
A:  GRIND *never* writes to the hard drive, not once; nor does it read from
    the hard drive once the music is playing.  Unload all disk caches (like
    SMARTDRV.EXE) and the problem will go away.

Q:  "How the heck did you do this?"
A:  If you have any questions regarding how we did this (or about anything at
    all, really), feel free to contact Trixter (trixter@mcs.com) at any
    time.  Here's a couple of blatant hints, however:  The video sequences are
    RLE encoded using Homer's custom algorithm; they are only 4 colors each,
    and they're 32 frames each.  (This *will* change in a future
    version.)

Q:  "Who the hell are you guys, anyway?"
A:  Trixter (Jim Leonard) and Homer (Brian Hirt) met in high school as
    freshmen in 1985.  Both share similar interests in coding, although Homer
    is, in Trixter's opinion, a much better coder.  Both are currently not in
    any group.  (Unless you consider "independent" a group.  ;-)
    Trixter is the main organizer and coder of the Chromatiks project, which
    was responsible for the first PC multi-group music disk.  New volumes
    are planned, including one completely designed and drawn by Skaven/FC!
    Trixter has been an active member of the scene since 1990.
    Homer has been a non-active member since 1991, and an active member
    in 1994.

Q:  "What productions have you guys put out?"
A:  Homer has not released any productions, but Trixter has released
    Chromatiks 1 (April 1994), GRIND (August through December 1994), and
    WedTro (November 1994).

Q:  "When does Trixter (Jim Leonard) get married?"
A:  August 20th, 1994.

Q:  "Whoops!  How was the wedding?"
A:  Excellent, thanks for asking!  ;-)

Q:  "Is Trixter the first married demoscene member?"
A:  No, but I can't remember the name of the other one at the moment...  ;-)

Q:  "When will Chromatiks ][ be released?"
A:  Sometime in 1995, now that ASM 94 is over and Trixter can get some
    graphics made.  Trixter also made two intros, but February 1994 is a
    reasonable date.

Q:  "GRIND really sucks."
A:  Seek professional help.  ;-)

