6 ms·

Why "intro"? As if "demo" wasn't confusing enough.

by tantalor 11y ago

enqk 11y ago
It is standard demoscene terminology for a small Demo.
baxter001 11y ago
An intro is a demo with a size limit.
Mithaldu 11y ago
The demoscene started out of the software piracy scene. An intro was a short thing like this one, that people put into the boot sequence of games they cracked or otherwise made available to the scene. Over time these got more elaborate and people started making them separate from the games to show off their prowess in coding, called demos. Nowadays the names serve to differentiate the runtime length and size of the program. Intro = short thing, demo = long full effort thing.
- skrebbel 11y ago
  > Intro = short thing, demo = long full effort thing. The problem is that that's not true anymore either. Many intros are equally "long full effort" as your average demo. Intro simply means "demo with a size limit", these days (and by "these days" i mean "the last 15 years")
xorcist 11y ago
Just wait until you get to the "megademo". :)
- watson 11y ago
  These already exists and are called wild demos: From http://tomaes.32x.de/text/faq.php http://tomaes.32x.de/text/faq.php: A wild demo can be pretty much everything. Some possibilities: - It's any kind of film, usually available as divx/avi file (music videos, shorts, comedies, trash, prerendered animations...) - It's a demo that requires very rare/strange hardware to run (c64 with SCPUs, for example) - It's a demo that simply does not fit in any other competition (and the applying rules) of a given demoparty. - Sometimes, live performances count as 'wild' demos too. ;) However, in most cases, it IS a short movie (clip), either tradionally filmed or CG/animated.
  - Mithaldu 11y ago
    Not quite. Megademos are simply really big demos, the very first example of which being Second Reality by Future Crew. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTjnt_WSJu8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTjnt_WSJu8 Nowadays megademos might be put into the wild demo compo, but from what i know parties put length restrictions on those as well. The primary purpose of wild demo compos however is to allow platforms that do not compare well with the classic demo platforms, such as the various ARM mini computers, game consoles or really old computers.
    - z303 11y ago
      While Second Reality is a classic. It was not the first megademo. I remember the term not being new in the late 80's on the Amiga and ST http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=1331 http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=1331 http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=3119 http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=3119 http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=3242 http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=3242 http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=3972 http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=3972
      - Mithaldu 11y ago
        I stand corrected, my wording was absolutely wrong and i should've written "one of the earlier". Thanks for the examples too! :D
  - z303 11y ago
    Some even use overhead projectors https://youtu.be/LCIsIfEOEI8 https://youtu.be/LCIsIfEOEI8

Why "intro"? As if "demo" wasn't confusing enough.

enqk 11y ago

It is standard demoscene terminology for a small Demo.

baxter001 11y ago

An intro is a demo with a size limit.

Mithaldu 11y ago

The demoscene started out of the software piracy scene. An intro was a short thing like this one, that people put into the boot sequence of games they cracked or otherwise made available to the scene. Over time these got more elaborate and people started making them separate from the games to show off their prowess in coding, called demos. Nowadays the names serve to differentiate the runtime length and size of the program. Intro = short thing, demo = long full effort thing.

skrebbel 11y ago
> Intro = short thing, demo = long full effort thing. The problem is that that's not true anymore either. Many intros are equally "long full effort" as your average demo. Intro simply means "demo with a size limit", these days (and by "these days" i mean "the last 15 years")

xorcist 11y ago

Just wait until you get to the "megademo". :)

watson 11y ago
These already exists and are called wild demos: From http://tomaes.32x.de/text/faq.php http://tomaes.32x.de/text/faq.php: A wild demo can be pretty much everything. Some possibilities: - It's any kind of film, usually available as divx/avi file (music videos, shorts, comedies, trash, prerendered animations...) - It's a demo that requires very rare/strange hardware to run (c64 with SCPUs, for example) - It's a demo that simply does not fit in any other competition (and the applying rules) of a given demoparty. - Sometimes, live performances count as 'wild' demos too. ;) However, in most cases, it IS a short movie (clip), either tradionally filmed or CG/animated.
- Mithaldu 11y ago
  Not quite. Megademos are simply really big demos, the very first example of which being Second Reality by Future Crew. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTjnt_WSJu8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTjnt_WSJu8 Nowadays megademos might be put into the wild demo compo, but from what i know parties put length restrictions on those as well. The primary purpose of wild demo compos however is to allow platforms that do not compare well with the classic demo platforms, such as the various ARM mini computers, game consoles or really old computers.
  - z303 11y ago
    While Second Reality is a classic. It was not the first megademo. I remember the term not being new in the late 80's on the Amiga and ST http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=1331 http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=1331 http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=3119 http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=3119 http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=3242 http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=3242 http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=3972 http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=3972
    - Mithaldu 11y ago
      I stand corrected, my wording was absolutely wrong and i should've written "one of the earlier". Thanks for the examples too! :D
- z303 11y ago
  Some even use overhead projectors https://youtu.be/LCIsIfEOEI8 https://youtu.be/LCIsIfEOEI8