Origin and Evolution of the Demoscene
Publisher: In-Sight Publishing
Publisher Founding: March 1, 2014
Web Domain: http://www.in-sightpublishing.com
Location: Fort Langley, Township of Langley, British Columbia, Canada
Journal: In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal
Journal Founding: August 2, 2012
Frequency: Three (3) Times Per Year
Review Status: Non-Peer-Reviewed
Access: Electronic/Digital & Open Access
Fees: None (Free)
Volume Numbering: 12
Issue Numbering: 3
Section: B
Theme Type: Idea
Theme Premise: “Outliers and Outsiders”
Theme Part: 31
Formal Sub-Theme: None
Individual Publication Date: August 8, 2024
Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2024
Author(s): Claus Volko, M.D.
Author Bio: Claus Volko is an Austrian computer and medical scientist who has conducted research on the treatment of cancer and severe mental disorders by conversion of stress hormones into immunity hormones. This research gave birth to a new scientific paradigm which he called “symbiont conversion theory”: methods to convert cells exhibiting parasitic behaviour to cells that act as symbionts. In 2013 Volko, obtained an IQ score of 172 on the Equally Normed Numerical Derivation Test. He is also the founder and president of Prudentia High IQ Society, a society for people with an IQ of 140 or higher, preferably academics.
Word Count: 628
Image Credits: Claus Volko.
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN): 2369-6885
*Please see the footnotes, bibliography, and citations, after the publication.*
Abstract
Keywords: Capabilities of the hardware animations, computer art community known demoscene, displays animations and visual effects, graphics crafted by visual artists, morphing 3D characters appear demo, organizing around bulletin-board systems, pre-calculated data is minimal characteristic, render the effects in real-time.
Origin and Evolution of the Demoscene
This article deals with a computer art community known as the demoscene. I assume that the reader has never heard of it before. Maybe he or she has, however, once seen a “tech demo”. A tech demo is a computer program created by a video adapter manufacturer, such as Nvidia, that showcases the capabilities of the hardware by displaying animations and visual effects. The type of computer art the demoscene is all about is something similar: a demo is a computer program that displays animations and visual effects, accompanied by music. What’s important is that it is really a program, i.e. an executable file, and not just an AVI or MPEG file that has been created by some sort of video editing software. Demos usually render the effects in real-time, so the amount of pre-calculated data is minimal. That’s also one of the often cited characteristics of scene demos. Moreover, demos are sometimes size-limited, in which case they are more accurately called intros.
A classical demo is Second Reality by Future Crew. [1] This demo was released in 1993 and was already a multi-part demo with transitions between the individual parts. It featured interesting effects such as plasma and a flight through a virtual city, as well as graphics crafted by visual artists. The demo was created by the Finnish demo group Future Crew and took part in the demo competition at the Assembly 1993 computer art festival, where it placed first. When you watch this demo keep in mind that it was the days of the 386 and even on that legacy hardware, the demo ran smooth. Which shows that the programmers had good skills at optimizing the performance of their code.
A more recent demo, from 2010, is “Happiness is around the bend” by Andromeda Software Development. [2] The code of this demo is already far larger than that of Second Reality and the demo also needs more modern hardware to be properly executed. This demo placed first in the demo competition at Assembly 2010. Andromeda Software Development, or short ASD, is a Greek demo group around the programmer Navis (real name: Konstantinos Pataridis), who is also responsible for most of the design of the demo. What’s especially exciting about this demo is the morphing 3D characters that appear in it.
Finally, 2023 was the year when ASD released “The Legend of Sisyphus”, which also won first place at Assembly. [3] This demo already exceeds 100 MB in size. This is because of the 3D models of the human body that are used in the demo to a vast extent. The Legend of Sisyphus already shows that the borderline between a real time-computed demo and a pre-rendered animation is fading. In the days of Second Reality, nobody would have tolerated such a large demo, it would have been regarded as “unscenish”.
Basically the current demoscene can be subdivided into three categories:
- The “oldskool” scene, which deals with ancient platforms such as the C64 or the Amiga. Even nowadays, demos for these old platforms are being produced.
- The size-limited scene, which is about intros limited to 64k, 4k or even less.
- The size-unlimited scene, which is about demos such as The Legend of Sisyphus.
As already mentioned the demoscene is a community of people, in this case people who contribute to the making of demos. Originally the demoscene organized itself around bulletin-board systems and computer magazines in the 1980s. In the late 1980s the first computer art festivals came up, also known as demoparties. These demoparties exist even today. Assembly is one of the most established, but there are also others, such as Revision or Evoke in Germany. For communication in the scene, websites such as pouet or demozoo are frequently used. [4] [5]
Most demoscene researchers believe that the demoscene actually originated from the warez scene because early demos look similar to crack intros. But in the course of the decades many people with no roots in the warez scene have also joined the demoscene. Maybe some of them have even been inspired by tech demos.
Bibliography
[Demoscene High-Quality Videos (Annikras)]. (2011, July 14). Happiness is Around the Bend by ASD (FullHD 1080p HQ demoscene demo 2010)
[Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhKTF35L_X8
[docannotable]. (2011, March 12). Second Reality by Future Crew (PC Demo) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFv7mHTf0nA
[Kostas Pat]. (2023, August 5). The Legend of Sisyphus by Andromeda Software Development [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzC9H9lSQfs
Demozoo. (n.d.). Demozoo. Retrieved August 8, 2024, from https://demozoo.org/
Pouët. (n.d.). Pouët. Retrieved August 8, 2024, from https://www.pouet.net/
Footnotes
[1] [docannotable]. (2011, March 12). Second Reality by Future Crew (PC Demo) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFv7mHTf0nA
[2] [Demoscene High-Quality Videos (Annikras)]. (2011, July 14). Happiness is Around the Bend by ASD (FullHD 1080p HQ demoscene demo 2010)
[Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhKTF35L_X8
[3] [Kostas Pat]. (2023, August 5). The Legend of Sisyphus by Andromeda Software Development [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzC9H9lSQfs
[4] Pouët. (n.d.). Pouët. Retrieved August 8, 2024, from https://www.pouet.net/
[5] Demozoo. (n.d.). Demozoo. Retrieved August 8, 2024, from https://demozoo.org/
Citations
American Medical Association (AMA 11th Edition): Volko C. Origin and Evolution of the Demoscene. August 2024; 12(3). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/demoscene
American Psychological Association (APA 7th Edition): Volko, C. (2024, August 8). Origin and Evolution of the Demoscene. In-Sight Publishing. 12(3).
Brazilian National Standards (ABNT): VOLKO, C. Origin and Evolution of the Demoscene. In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, Fort Langley, v. 12, n. 3, 2024.
Chicago/Turabian, Author-Date (17th Edition): Volko, Claus. 2024. “Origin and Evolution of the Demoscene.” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal 12, no. 3 (Summer). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/demoscene.
Chicago/Turabian, Notes & Bibliography (17th Edition): Volko, C “Origin and Evolution of the Demoscene.” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal 12, no. 3 (August 2024).http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/demoscene.
Harvard: Volko, C. (2024) ‘Origin and Evolution of the Demoscene’, In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, 12(3). <http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/demoscene>.
Harvard (Australian): Volko, C 2024, ‘Origin and Evolution of the Demoscene’, In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, vol. 12, no. 3, <http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/demoscene>.
Modern Language Association (MLA, 9th Edition): Volko, Claus. “Origin and Evolution of the Demoscene.” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, vo.12, no. 3, 2024, http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/demoscene.
Vancouver/ICMJE: Claus V. Origin and Evolution of the Demoscene [Internet]. 2024 Aug; 12(3). Available from: http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/demoscene.
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