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Rip script is one of the most pointless forms
of binary information ever distributed.
Rip was first devoloped by a company called Telegrafix
to supersede ansi - and consisted of a universal set of instructions to
draw 16 colour vector graphics. The instructions are stored in a
small file, to be transfered quickly over modem for use in bulletin boards,
rather than trying to send an entire binary pixel image. In theory,
this was an excellent idea, as the average schmoe runing a 2400 BBS couldn't
make ansi look any good - quite simply, the lack of graphical interaction
was putting off users.
The system worked well & was efficient.
However, there was a catch - you could only conect to a rip script system
by using a comunication program called 'ripterm' which is with out a doubt
the second worst terminal program ever made, the worst being Windows Terminal,
first shipped with Microsoft Windows 3.1 - so second worst isn't saying
much.
Thus, in their original use, RipScript systems
& viewers flopped and faded in to the background, only to be picked
up by some idiots in the "underground scene". Groups like flatline
amazed us with their display of vector images, and rips were re-born.
Today there remains no real use for them, apart from providing a somewhat
unusual artistic medium to these underground groups. Only a handful
of programs actually view them, many of them coded by the underground art
scene itself.
And now, long after the devolopment of modems fast
enough to transfer full colour images at a decent speed, and long after
the demise of bulletin boards, us at souls are wasting our time making
rip scrips images strictly for your viewing plesure. |
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