SOASC= started recording in 2006 and lasted until 2009 giving us a complete HVSC #49 frozen collection. In 2009 I was really tired of maintaining and synchronizing the collection to match a "full" release of HVSC and it was also mixed with the fact I needed dedicated space, time and hardware with half-open Commodore 64's present at all times.

After many years of pause, in 2015 I started the process of starting recording again, this time, just record single releases as a whole new pack, this project was known as SOASC= ROTS (Return of the SOASC=). I managed to record release #50 and all the way up to 2022's #77 release before coming back to the original conclusion but with some suger added of why I wanted to end it again :-)

Now, the the SOASC= ROTS project from 2015, I also added an additional SID CHIP revision as well as tunes from CGSC collection. The CGSC releases are sporadic, while the HVSC releases 2 times a year. Naturally, I will start the same day to record it as it appears, but whatever other projects I'm doing just have to wait while recording lasts.

All my life, I had always many projects running at the same time and found that to be a very effective way of not getting bored, stressed since I could always jump over to another type of project, then returning to others. I still do this.

Problem is that since January 2021 I started a journey into Virtual Reality headset, specifically Oculus Quest 2 and has never had more to do than now, and I simply love it, since I have been waiting for VR since 1991!

On my standard www.stone-oakvalley-studios.com website I started a new section called "gaming" which is a section of my entire life I really never explored properly and I need to dig into that for a couple of years, which means that any other "big" projects that never quit has to basically be ignored or just stopped completely as there isn't enough to keep doing it that way.

So, I will still do related work that involves Commodore 64 and Amiga highly even in my VR projects, but the fact is that in my first VR project I have started 10+ different variations of VR experiences/gaming and need to fully focus on those instead. To be honest, I think I have already overdone the C64 and Amiga recording project far longer and larger than anybody would suspect would be possible :-)

So, it's with good confidence I will also end the SOASC= project completely this summer just to get projects done in what I limit myself considering "done" means. This was afterall a private project, non-funded, no-crowd-funded or fan/ad based driven project so I can just decide to quit whenever I feel like it. You're just lucky to experience the free goods of the fruits of SOASC= and SOAMC= for free all these years.

My other concern is about my Commodore 64 hardware. Remember that the original Power Supply have been running since 2006, yes, that is true. It has been on 24/7 for all those years during recording, it never broke. So, those people complaining about these should probably be shocked cause its the 100% truth - which means your power system in the house is simply spiked and fucked up!

Remember also that I use 4 SID chips in the process, includes NTSC machines as well. I have to manually joggle these around, switch SID chips for every Rx recording and it just leaves all of the Commodore's locked to the project in a half-open state collecting sun, dust and becomes just a bloody headache to look at.

So, I can finally store these precious machines properly, get my SD2IEC, MMC64 and all machines in a single-state devices instead of always it beeing occupied just for those 2 HVSC releases every year. I also want to end this project because of that.


The plan ahead:
1: Websites will stay as-is, all content will be unchanged or deleted.
2: Search engine will be as-is and nothing will be deactivated or improved.
3: Bug-system will be as-is (but will not be reviewed by me any longer).
4: File downloads/availability and recordings will stay as-is.
5: Database will *NOT* be edited for ANY CAUSE WHAT-SO-EVER, so don't bother to ask, it will be fully ignored!
6: Bug fixes reported for SOAMC= will not be fixed in near future.
7: Bug fixes reported for SOASC= since last batch, WILL be re-recorded during summer.

Naturally, all but point 5, could potentially be looked at within a timeline of the next 10 years, but do not hope or hold your breath for that.


Below, I added a screenshot of a simple graph of the yearly releases of SID songs composed out there. Going from 1982-2021 (as numbers for 2022 is not known), but it tries to paint a picture of that my initial goal and love for the project was not because SID music of all ages are super cool, but was directly linked to my childhood and the past, which for me would be 1987-1992 when I was most active on C64 at the age of 13-18 and those SID songs were "facts". To be honest, I do not get that same experience when listening to tracks composed in 2020 - if you get my point?!

In order for songs of 2021 to become "childhood memories", I would at the year look back to 2021 from 2032 and remember those "good old days" of songs I never listened to anyway so its all relative to timelines, own memories and experiences. But, these change over time, and naturally, one does not get "that" excited hearing a music disk from 2020 as everything else around you has gone past that. In 1987 there were no match to what you hear on a Commodore 64, as the alternatives where only expensive analog synths, tapes, vhs and radio. Heck, even CD's at that time wasn't available, and that internet back then was BBS with, you guessed it, MUS and SID songs and there were nothing else to distract you. Today's world does a pretty good job of distracting you in all directions and the choices we have today technologically and information-wise is simply put Sci-Fi.

I guess I could say I have been moved forcefully forward in the time and universe - unable to freeze time and got captured by other technology that triggers my brain to react and stick to it. In this case, Virtual Reality stuck me and I simply love it :-)

You may visit that "Gaming" section on my standard website below!

And as always, I will end these ending words to the SOASC= project with simply: KIRK OUT!

Stone Oakvalley Studios - Games Ideas & Developments