IN THE BEGINNING, there were 128     
     characters. Since those     
     characters were all we had, we     
     used them to make Graphical User     
     Interfaces (GUI) displayed in     
     text.     

     The first 32 characters were     
     control codes, and if you exclude     
     the numbers and the letters, we     
     end up with these options     
     !"#$%&'()*+,-./:;<=>?@{|}~ and a     
     space.     

     On the PC, this also usually     
     meant an interface which was 80     
     characters wide and 24 characters     
     tall.



     "Old School" Ascii Characters
  +--------------------------------------+  

     The original 7 bit character set:

      !"#$%&'()*+,-./
     0123456789:;<=>?@
     ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
     [\]^_`
     abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
     {|}~


     But, for most people term, the     
     term oldschool ascii soon came to     
     include the full ascii set of     
     256 characters which made it     
     possible to include some     
     'shading' and embellishments but     
     the logos were still based on the     
     line characters such as / | - _     
     , \\


     Let's draw a small old school logo
  +--------------------------------------+  


     ╓ Step #1
     ----------------------------------
     Start with a basic form you like,
     or a character you're happy with.

        _,/\______
      __\_        \
      \__        _/_
      _/            \_
      \_______      _/
            |______/



     ╓ Step #2
     ----------------------------------
     Turn the shape into characters,
     here we go with 'B', 'Z', and 'R'

        _,/\______
      __\_   __   \
      \__    |/  _/_
      _/     |/     \_
      \_______      _/
            |______/

        _,/\______
      __\_____    \
      \__   ______/_
      _/    |       \_
      \_______      _/
            |______/

        _,/\______
      __\_   __   \
      \__    |/ __/_
      _/            \_
      \______|      _/
            |______/



     ╓ Step #3
     ----------------------------------
     Combine the characters to a word,
     either by overlapping (where the
     next characters overlap the
     previous one), joining them, or
     by letting the first letter
     dictate the shape.

    _,/\______  _,/\______  _,/\______
  __\_   __   \_\_____    \_\_   __   \
  \__    |/  _/__   ______/\_    |/ __/_
  _/     |/      \  |        \          \_
  \_______      _/____      _/___|      _/
        |______/    |______/    |______/



     ╓ Step #4
     ----------------------------------
     Then you could add a some
     irregularities and some shading

    _,/\______  _,/\______  _,/\______
  __\_   __   \_\_____    \:\_   __   \
  \__    |/  _//_   ______/\_    |/ __/_
  _/     |/      \  |        \          \_
 \\_______     ╓_/____     ╓_/___|     ╓_//
        |______/    |______/    |______/




     Artwork
  +--------------------------------------+  

     Examples of what I believe is
     exceptional ascii art.



     1997/comic-01/SPN-COMC.ASC
     <comic> 



     Collections (aka 'Collys')
  +--------------------------------------+  

     A collection of art, and     
     sometimes text, in one long text     
     file with a .txt extension.     
     Usually from one artist. An     
     artist could represent more than     
     one group, but each colly was was     
     usually released with one of the     
     groups specifically.


     "in the mouth of madness" - h...
     <artscene.textfiles.com/ascii/...> 

     "a moment in time, a moment o...
     <artscene.textfiles.com/ascii/...> 

     "drd" - hP!
     <artscene.textfiles.com/ascii/...> 

     to serve man - ©hP!
     <artscene.textfiles.com/ascii/...> 



      IN THE BEGINNING, there were 128 characters. Since those characters      
      were all we had, we used them to make Graphical User Interfaces      
      (GUI) displayed in text.      

      The first 32 characters were control codes, and if you exclude the      
      numbers and the letters, we end up with these options      
      !"#$%&'()*+,-./:;<=>?@{|}~ and a space.      

      On the PC, this also usually meant an interface which was 80      
      characters wide and 24 characters tall.




      "Old School" Ascii Characters
 +---------------------------------------------------------------++----------+

      The original 7 bit character set:

       !"#$%&'()*+,-./
      0123456789:;<=>?@
      ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
      [\]^_`
      abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
      {|}~




      Characters turned into logos
 +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

      Soon GUIs turned into logos and art.

      This one says 'Razor':



         __/\__________/\__________/\__________/\__________/\_______
         \________   _______  ___\_______   ______________________  \
         _/ ________/_/        !__/  ______/__/   \|   !__/ ________/
         \     |    \_    \|    \_          \_          \_     |    \_
       bzr\____|     /\____|     /\_____     /\_____     /\____|     /ops
     ,---------|____/------|____/------|____/------|____/------|____/-----,
     |                                                                    |
     `--------------------------------------------------------------------'



      But, for most people term, the term oldschool ascii soon came to      
      include the full ascii set of 256 characters which made it possible      
      to include some 'shading' and embellishments but the logos were      
      still based on the line characters such as / | - _ , \\

      Here is a similar logo, this one for RBS (short for 'Rebels') with      
      the addition of the ░ character.



                   __)\________  __)\________   _________)\_
                   \_________  \_\_________  \_/  _________/
                  ,-/  ________/ ░|  ________/░\________  ░\-,
                  | \_____|       ______ '     ______      /  |
                  `---bzr-|______/-----\______/-ops-\_____/---'



       Adding more and more extended charachters, then, turned into another
       form of ASCII called <newschool ascii> where the $$$$ was used
       a lot..



     Let's draw a small old school logo
 +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+


      ╓ Step #1
      --------------------------------------------------------------------
      Start with a basic form you like,
      or a character you're happy with.

         _,/\______
       __\_        \
       \__        _/_
       _/            \_
       \_______      _/
             |______/



     ╓ Step #2
      --------------------------------------------------------------------
     Turn the shape into characters,
     here we go with 'B', 'Z', and 'R'

        _,/\______        _,/\______        _,/\______
      __\_   __   \     __\_____    \     __\_   __   \
      \__    |/  _/_    \__   ______/_    \__    |/ __/_
      _/     |/     \_  _/    |       \_  _/            \_
      \_______      _/  \_______      _/  \______|      _/
            |______/          |______/          |______/



      ╓ Step #3
      --------------------------------------------------------------------
      Combine the characters to a word, either by overlapping (where the
      next characters overlap the previous one), joining them, or
      by letting the first letter dictate the shape.

        _,/\______   _,/\______   _,/\______
      __\_   __   \__\_____    \__\_   __   \
      \__    |/  _/\__   ______/\__    |/ __/_
      _/     |/          |                    \_
      \_______      _/_____      _/____|      _/
            |______/     |______/     |______/



     ╓ Step #4
      --------------------------------------------------------------------
     Then you could add a some irregularities and some shading.

        _,/\______   _,/\______   _,/\______
      __\_   __   \._\_____    \._\_   __   \
      \__    |/  _/_//   ______/_//    |/ __/_
      _/     |/     \_   |       \_           \_
      \_______     ╓_/_____     ╓_/____|     ╓_/
            |______/     |______/     |______/






       Artwork
 +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

       A few examples of really great old school ascii art.



                              .................
                              :               :
                              :               :
                - -*-(╓)-*- c o m i c ! a s c i i -*-(╖)-*- -
                      |       :               :       |
                      :       :               :       :
         __/\\______  __/\\______  __/\\______  __/\\___  __/\\______
     ____\__ __ ___/__\__ __ ___/__\___   ___/__\______/__\__ __ ___/_____
     \\___    |_____/_     |    _/_    \_/   _/_       _/_     |________//
       _/     |       \_   |       \_   |       \_        \_   |       \_
       \_______       _/____       _/___|       _/____    _/____       _/
        <spn>|_______/.   |_______/     |______/    |____/    |_______/
                      :       .               .       .
        - -- --- ---------- - : - --------- - : - ------------- --- -- -
                      :       :               :       :
                      |       :               :       |
                - -*-(╙)-*- c o m i c ! a s c i i -*-(╜)-*- -
                              :               :
                              :               :
                              :...............:




      Collections (aka 'Collys')
 +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

      A collection of art, and sometimes text, in one long text file with      
      a .txt extension. Usually from one artist. An artist could      
      represent more than one group, but each colly was was usually      
      released with one of the groups specifically.


      "in the mouth of madness" - hiro protagonist
      <artscene.textfiles.com/ascii/remorse_collies/r-itmom.txt> 

      "a moment in time, a moment of money" - hiro protagonist
      <artscene.textfiles.com/ascii/remorse_collies/r-money.txt> 

      "drd" - hP!
      <artscene.textfiles.com/ascii/remorse_collies/r-drd.txt> 

      to serve man - ©hP!
      <artscene.textfiles.com/ascii/remorse_collies/r-tsm.txt> 




  +--------------------------------------+

                                                                              .
 .                                                                            :
 :                                                                            |
 |                                                                            |
-+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+-
 |                                                                            |
 :                                                                            .
 .