5 ms·

Ask HN: Anyone in the Demoscene?

9 points by marto1 5y ago

Anyone still doing it ? How did you get into it in the first place ? Did it lead to something meaningful ?

throwaway889900 5y ago
Nah, but browsing pouet.net is fun from time to time. I think I kinda got into it seeing some game dev from xra_ on Twitch for Memory of a Broken Dimension.
- marto1 5y ago
  pouet is awesome, yeah.
no_time 5y ago
I've been thinking about going to a demoparty (Function) but none of my nerdier friends who'd appreciate the skills on display are fond of socializing unless necessary. :/
Minor49er 5y ago
I used to dabble in it years ago. Here's a sample in text mode in C on MS-DOS, which is more a variety of techniques and examples strung together: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALy9TugTmmA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALy9TugTmmA I got into it originally because when I was learning how to program, I found a bunch of tutorials, open source programs, and small games on places like Programmers Haven (which used to serve text files, source, and programs, but has since renamed to Programmers Heaven and is just a generic message board now). Being able to type in some relatively simple code and produce a complicated-looking visual effect is highly appealing and lends to the sense of wonder. It pushes the limits of the computer and the imagination and is a gateway into learning more to see what else the computer is capable of doing. While I never got into anything like game development from it, the demoscene has taught me that the most obvious approach might not be the only one, or even the right one for what you're trying to do. The more techniques you know, the more you can apply, and that you can often reframe a problem to hit it with another more effective technique if your current attempts aren't quite good enough.
- marto1 5y ago
  Really cool music, thanks for the demo!
  - Minor49er 5y ago
    Thank you!
fbnlsr 5y ago
Not in the demoscene per se, but I used to be part of the music scene. I was the creator of Nashmeja, a tiny internet label that was into IDM[1]. I also created Traxer (later called Traxernews) which was a music release news website. It was my very first attempt at making a website, and it eventually led to me being a full time freelance developer. I still plan on making music again some day, but between work, having a kid, and video games, I just don't take the time anymore. [1] https://files.scene.org/browse/music/groups/nashmeja/ https://files.scene.org/browse/music/groups/nashmeja/
Mountain_Skies 5y ago
A word of caution to fans, there's still value in actually getting the demos and running them instead of just watching a video capture. Services like YouTube compress their video streams, robbing many demos of their fidelity.
- marto1 5y ago
  How do you run demos ? Do you actually setup VMs etc. or something else ?
  - no_time 5y ago
    It's a trust based tight knit community. Running PC demos on bare metal, especially those that were first shown on big name parties is not uncommon.
fosshogg 5y ago
Shout out to KFMF, some of my earliest exposure to electronic music
Gravyness 5y ago
This guy posts about demoscene, maybe you find some community there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufXg3sB3qak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufXg3sB3qak
- marto1 5y ago
  well, now I know about ZINE radio and demozoo. Thanks!
iszomer 5y ago
I think the modern rendition of demoscene has transitioned into the generative tagline.
- marto1 5y ago
  But is it necessary to be generative ? Moving a sprite around in a creative way could be considered a demo, I think.
  - iszomer 5y ago
    Culturally. Demoscene back then didn't have the common web frameworks we have today as low-level programming was as bare metal as you could get.

9 points by marto1 5y ago

Anyone still doing it ? How did you get into it in the first place ? Did it lead to something meaningful ?

Nah, but browsing pouet.net is fun from time to time. I think I kinda got into it seeing some game dev from xra_ on Twitch for Memory of a Broken Dimension.

marto1 5y ago
pouet is awesome, yeah.

no_time 5y ago

I've been thinking about going to a demoparty (Function) but none of my nerdier friends who'd appreciate the skills on display are fond of socializing unless necessary. :/

Minor49er 5y ago

I used to dabble in it years ago. Here's a sample in text mode in C on MS-DOS, which is more a variety of techniques and examples strung together: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALy9TugTmmA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALy9TugTmmA I got into it originally because when I was learning how to program, I found a bunch of tutorials, open source programs, and small games on places like Programmers Haven (which used to serve text files, source, and programs, but has since renamed to Programmers Heaven and is just a generic message board now). Being able to type in some relatively simple code and produce a complicated-looking visual effect is highly appealing and lends to the sense of wonder. It pushes the limits of the computer and the imagination and is a gateway into learning more to see what else the computer is capable of doing. While I never got into anything like game development from it, the demoscene has taught me that the most obvious approach might not be the only one, or even the right one for what you're trying to do. The more techniques you know, the more you can apply, and that you can often reframe a problem to hit it with another more effective technique if your current attempts aren't quite good enough.

marto1 5y ago
Really cool music, thanks for the demo!
- Minor49er 5y ago
  Thank you!

fbnlsr 5y ago

Not in the demoscene per se, but I used to be part of the music scene. I was the creator of Nashmeja, a tiny internet label that was into IDM[1]. I also created Traxer (later called Traxernews) which was a music release news website. It was my very first attempt at making a website, and it eventually led to me being a full time freelance developer. I still plan on making music again some day, but between work, having a kid, and video games, I just don't take the time anymore. [1] https://files.scene.org/browse/music/groups/nashmeja/ https://files.scene.org/browse/music/groups/nashmeja/

Mountain_Skies 5y ago

A word of caution to fans, there's still value in actually getting the demos and running them instead of just watching a video capture. Services like YouTube compress their video streams, robbing many demos of their fidelity.

marto1 5y ago
How do you run demos ? Do you actually setup VMs etc. or something else ?
- no_time 5y ago
  It's a trust based tight knit community. Running PC demos on bare metal, especially those that were first shown on big name parties is not uncommon.

fosshogg 5y ago

Shout out to KFMF, some of my earliest exposure to electronic music

Gravyness 5y ago

This guy posts about demoscene, maybe you find some community there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufXg3sB3qak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufXg3sB3qak

marto1 5y ago
well, now I know about ZINE radio and demozoo. Thanks!

iszomer 5y ago

I think the modern rendition of demoscene has transitioned into the generative tagline.

marto1 5y ago
But is it necessary to be generative ? Moving a sprite around in a creative way could be considered a demo, I think.
- iszomer 5y ago
  Culturally. Demoscene back then didn't have the common web frameworks we have today as low-level programming was as bare metal as you could get.