

The Best Of The 2009 Demoscene - incredible mem management - aresant
http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2010/01/special_the_best_of_the_2009_demos.php

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joshu
I'm kinda sad that these things can run in realtime on modern hardware, but my
fucking computer can't play a low-res video of the actual animation without
stuttering.

First video felt a bit like an autechre video.

~~~
aw3c2
Your computer is not the culprit, Flash is.

~~~
gnosis
You don't need flash to watch the videos. If you follow the links for each
video you can download them in mp4 format.

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thibaut_barrere
Are there other (former/current) demomakers around here ?

I released these ones a long while back (ie circa 95-98):

Obez/KlOon <http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=17268> (soft real phong
rendering)

Nikki/Jinrikisha <http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=1368>

I'm planning to experiment with ruby-based demo (maybe using Jemini - see
<http://www.learnivore.com/search/jemini>) when I'll have more time this year.

~~~
daeken
I'm an assembly hacker (long time reverse-engineer, lately focused on
compiler/kernel development) looking to get into the demoscene, but I've spent
more time thinking and less time doing. I've built a few little fun things
that are almost demo-related (I built a (x86 PC) bootblock breakout game that
used the actual VGA memory to do collision detection, and a few other little
things), but no actual demos. Is the best way to get into the scene to just
start building things, or is it worthwhile to seek group contacts and try to
get on an established team?

This will likely sound horrible for someone who wants to get into the scene,
but I have a hard time coming up with an idea that's both interesting and
doable given the restraints in which I want it to operate. This has been my
biggest stumbling block so far, but I think that once I get one real project
under my belt, I'll be considerably better off.

As a sidenote, if anyone here is interested in starting up a little group, I'm
game.

~~~
thibaut_barrere
Well back in the days, I just started out experimenting with some effects (ie
standalone piece of graphic effect), or music. At some point I had various
effects available handy, so I started sharing this inside the college, met a
few people, went to demoparties etc.

After that people approached me to ask if we could work together etc.

Well I think the most important thing is to try doing a little something, see
how it goes etc.

This can be time-boxed like any other hobbies.

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p0nce
The point of real-time is also not to watch a video. The real thing is almost
always better. If you want to watch it real-time it can be a good idea to ask
the author for more compatibility.

Also check this 64k, my favourite this year:
<http://pouet.net/prod.php?which=53643>

~~~
romland
Whoa. Thanks for that link! I only follow the demoscene sporadically these
days as I always lose a couple of hours everytime I end up at Pouet!

By following that link I also had the pleasure of ending up on your demoscene
group . I had to watch a few, and timestamps may be off here (could only watch
the video) but at 2:02 in "Extatique" I had this shiver down my spine as it
sent me back to the 90's Amiga scene with resizing-bob-starfield (only lasted
for about 2 seconds before I was yanked back to reality, though). :D

Nice productions!

PS. Nice to see that you guys seem to provide source for everything!

Edit: link for those who might be curious: <http://www.vimeo.com/8607459>

~~~
p0nce
Hey thanks. The low-tech feel of this demo wasn't intended tbh :)

For casual watchers, good stuff from recent years:

Stargazer/Orb & Andromeda: <http://pouet.net/prod.php?which=51438>

The Beauty/Einklang.net: <http://pouet.net/prod.php?which=50144>

Texas/Keyboarders: <http://pouet.net/prod.php?which=51448>

Receptor/TBX: <http://pouet.net/prod.php?which=51449>

Rudebox/ATZ: <http://pouet.net/prod.php?which=53937>

Masagin/Farbrausch: <http://pouet.net/prod.php?which=50131>

Everything ASD:
[http://pouet.net/groups.php?which=1317&order=release](http://pouet.net/groups.php?which=1317&order=release)

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spitfire
The technical overview of direct to video is very interesting. It's sort of
funny, it is the modern day pixel-draw-image effect. With GPU's the old
demoscene of low level hw hacking is still alive.

Not only that but you're seeing some serious artistic effort put into these
things. Not just 3ds shows which were a problem in the late 90's early 00's.
Wonder when we'll start seeing demo's at moma.

~~~
thwarted
I've been wishing for years that digital-only media had a better
representation and recognition at publicly accessible museums, not just
relegated to the odd art-opening gallery showing, on par with colored paste
applied to fabric with horse hair.

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paraschopra
Pouet.net is an excellent source of demos

One group's demos are especially impressive -
<http://www.theprodukkt.com/demoscene>

Just watch their fr-08 or play that 64 KB FPS

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nostrademons
I don't really see what the title has to do with the article - it said that
these are for "demos", i.e. no size limits, and the #1 entry came in at about
60 MB. It'd be a lot more impressive if they fit that into 4K.

~~~
Confusion
Well, it used to be just 4K of executable code. Perhaps the code used to
produce the video was still extremely small?

~~~
nostrademons
The article explains. Since computers have gotten so much more powerful, the
demoscene has fragmented - 4k/64k demos are now called "intros", and "demos"
refers to programs with no limits except that they must render in realtime.

~~~
thibaut_barrere
From my memory, this split (4k/64k/more) existed long before 1995.

More recently, see <http://ind.untergrund.net/> for a list of very small (like
32, 256 bytes - not kb).

~~~
jcl
Sure. The split has existed since at least the second Assembly in 1993.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_demo_party#Demo_and_in...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_demo_party#Demo_and_intro_competition_winners)

I haven't been able to find an earlier example of the split; prior to that, it
seems demos simply did not compete with size limitations.

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elblanco
I dare anyone to look at these and not declare them art.

Participating in the scene is one of the most fun activities I've ever done.

