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You're looking at the last static copy (1999) of Acheron.org, more recent but partial copies exist in the wayback machine. This site is online out of nostalgia and because of it's historic content, an up to date ANSI/ASCII art archive is available from 16colo.rs

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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....?


full-size version available

The recent facelift of artpacks.acid.org

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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