Programming As Art — 13 Amazing Code Demos 210
cranberryzero writes "The demo scene has been around for twenty years now, and it has grown by leaps and bounds. From the early days of programmers pushing the limits of Ataris and Amigas to modern landscapes with full lighting, mapping, and motion capture, demo groups have done it all and done it under 100k. To celebrate this art form, I heart Chaos takes a look at thirteen of the best demo programs on the web. Flash video links are included, but it's more fun to download them and give your processor something fun to chew on."
Other demoscene links (Score:5, Informative)
Trojan in synchroplastikum (Score:3, Informative)
Awesome Demos (Score:2, Informative)
Server is going down in flames (Score:5, Informative)
The demoscene first appeared during the 8-bit era on computers such as the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum, and came to prominence during the rise of the 16/32-bit home computers (the Atari ST and the Amiga). In the early years, demos had a strong connection with software cracking. When a cracked program was started, the cracker or his team would take credit with a graphical introduction called a crack intro (shortened cracktro). Later, the making of intros and standalone demos evolved into a new subculture independent of the software piracy scene.
Prior to the popularity of IBM PC compatibles, most home computers of a given line had relatively little variance in their basic hardware, which made their capabilities practically identical. Therefore, the variations among demos created for one computer line were attributed to programming alone, rather than one computer having better hardware. This created a competitive environment in which demoscene groups would try to outperform each other in creating amazing effects, and often to demonstrate why they felt one machine was better than another (for example Commodore 64 or Amiga versus Atari 800 or ST).
Demo writers went to great lengths to get every last ounce of performance out of their target machine. Where games and application writers were concerned with the stability and functionality of their software, the demo writer was typically interested in how many CPU cycles a routine would consume and, more generally, how best to squeeze great activity onto the screen. Writers went so far as to exploit known hardware errors to produce effects that the manufacturer of the computer had not intended. The perception that the demo scene was going to extremes and charting new territory added to its draw.
Even with modern technology, where much of the effects seen in demos could be replicated in programs like 3D Studio Max, the point of demos are not just the beautiful visuals and music but the abilities of the programmers involved to write code so tight, so efficient, that something might be several megabytes if rendered in a 3D program comes out to less than 100k. So heres IHCs favorites from the demo scene of the last few years. These demos are in no particular order, and while weve provided Flash video links to each demo, the greatest joy is downloading them (PC only) and giving your graphic cards something fun to chew on.
Good Design
Lifeforce by Andromeda Software Design [iheartchaos.com]
Link to online Flash video [demoscene.tv]
Link to download [pouet.net]
Raw Confessions by cocoon [iheartchaos.com]
Link to online Flash video [youtube.com]
Link to download [pouet.net]
sandbox punks by cocoon [iheartchaos.com]
Link to online Flash video [demoscene.tv]
Link to download [pouet.net]
chaos theory by conspiracy [iheartchaos.com]
Link to online Flash video [demoscene.tv]
Link to download [pouet.net]
The popular demo by Far [iheartchaos.com]
Re:Second reality (Score:4, Informative)
Second Reality is considered by many to be the Ur-Demo, and I'm not entirely sure why; it's not a revolutionary milestone in the evolution of demomaking, merely a refinement of a lot of effects and design choices which had existed previously (notably in Future Crew's own "Panic" demo, released a couple months earlier).
No less interesting than the original demo is the Commodore 64 port of it released in 1998, by Smash Designs and The Obsessed Maniacs. The same effects running on hardware 10 years older (and with far less power), and yet the graphics and sound are only marginally degraded from what was possible on a 486/VGA/SB PC. There's a vidcap of most of it on YouTube here [youtube.com].
Re:Trojan in synchroplastikum (Score:3, Informative)
If you actually check what AVG is complaining about, (and I must say they don't make it easy for the novice to know about that) you will see it is complaining that the executable has been compressed. ("packed")
It's *not* actually detecting a trojan, just being overly suspicious.
Try it out, pack one of your trusted executables with a packer such as kkapture, (http://www.farbrausch.de/~fg/kkapture/) the best generic packer the demoscene has to offer.