The Detonator in 4001 / United Cracker Corporation
Added on January 10th, 2007 (6926 views)
www.c64.com?type=3&id=192



Tell us something about yourself.
Massimo Battaglini.

What handle(s) did you use and how did you come up with it/them?
My name was Detonator 4001, to be exact, The Detonator in 4001.

What group(s) were you in?
United Cracker Corporation, but mostly on my own.

What roles have you fulfilled?
Cracker, coder, and swapper.

How long were you active for?
1985-1989.

Tell us about those years and how you got into the scene in the first place.
I began swapping and copying stuff in Berlin, then I started to crack programs and write demos. Very famous were the Splash Demo series. Haha! The cracking community was about to share know-how and to learn about computing. It was a web through all nations. It was our world, the world of the bit! I get many good memories in my head when I think about the past.

Describe a typical day for you in front of the computer.
Ten to 12 hours mainly cracking, programming, gaming, and copying stuff. At the weekends, I was selling software to pay for all the stamps for the packages.

Did you personally invent any special techniques or tools to make things easier for you?
I invented the ramscanner which was a tool for scanning the entire ram of the C64.

When you look at what you did back then, what are you most proud of?
The demos, the cracks, the scene, and the friendship between the crackers.

Who were your heroes on the scene and why?
Friends and rolemodels: Mr. Zeropage of The Light Circle and Flash of Flash Cracking Group.

What, for you, was the coolest thing ever invented on the C64?
1001 and the Cracking Crew with their border-sprites was nice.

Did you go to any copy-parties, meetings or tradeshows?
Yes. Venlo (NL), Odense (DK), CeBit (D), and Essen (D).

In your opinion, what was the scene all about?
It was our own universe.

What were the particular highlights for you?
To get games, tools, and software in the mail every day, to crack stuff, the community.

Any cool stories to share with us?
It was funny when we started to have phone conferences all over the world.

Are you still in contact with any old C64 people today?
Yes.

When did you get your C64 and do you still have it lying around somewhere?
1985.

Was the C64 really as special as we like to think it was?
Yeah! It was Christmas, and I was given a microcomputer! A computer of my own! :) It was the beginning of the computer era for me. The C64 was cute! Games, utilities, sound, graphics... Just look at my demos (I saw you had some on your site :-)). You know, it was just by accident that I searched for Detonator 4001 and then discovered your site. It's amazing to see screenshots of what I programmed in 1986! :)

When can we expect to see some new C64 output from you? :)
Well, I have a C64 at my mothers house. Maybe I'll write some new demos. :) We'll see...

Do you have a message for your old contacts and/or anyone reading this?
Respect and greetings to Mr. Zeropage, SEE, F4CG, FAC, CFB, and AEK.

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