5 ms·

Demos of this caliber are like F1 cars from 60 years ago: a single genius, or small team, creating something totally beyond the reasonable expectations of every

Demos of this caliber are like F1 cars from 60 years ago: a single genius, or small team, creating something totally beyond the reasonable expectations of everyone who is familiar with the technology in question. I really hope it continues to be possible for this art form to exist.

rl3 4y ago
>I really hope it continues to be possible for this art form to exist. Hopefully AI doesn't one day ruin the demoscene as well. Seems like a Pandora's box for cheating and/or asymmetric resource advantages.
- ygra 4y ago
  The same may have been said about most other technologies introduced. The fact that a Windows .exe can do a lot more because it has access to DirectX doesn't invalidate the effort made in a demo of the same size made for the C64. There simply are different categories. I don't think they'll be much ruining going on. The people who make these demos use everything they can get their hands on, as long as it helps with cool visuals, a great soundtrack, and sandal executable size. In terms of how they get there everything seems to be allowed and even expected. And if one of those things is a trained network, so be it. Many groups have their own custom tools or even one-offs for only one demo.
  - rl3 4y ago
    Well put, I think you're correct.
Shared404 4y ago
How would one even learn how to do something like this? I feel like I have a high level understanding of most parts of the stack, but graphics programming has eluded me thus far. Would writing a ray tracer be a good starter project? I know I've seen it recommended by several people before.
- temp13 4y ago
  I'd recommend starting with javascript: https://thebookofshaders.com/ https://thebookofshaders.com/ https://threejs.org/examples/#webgl_geometry_terrain_raycast https://threejs.org/examples/#webgl_geometry_terrain_raycast
  - Shared404 4y ago
    I appreciate the recommendation to start with JS, I'm actually trying to avoid targeting the browser as much as possible with my projects, with the exception of things actually returning hypertext or that I get for free via wasm or something else. The Book of Shaders looks quite interesting however, thank you for the link!
    - duskwuff 4y ago
      I'd encourage you to reconsider that. Using WebGL lets you skip over a lot of tedious initialization. Or, even better, using a platform like shadertoy.net lets you skip all the JS as well and just write shaders. Using these tools doesn't mean your final project has to be JS-based as well. It just happens to be a convenient way to focus on specific aspects of the project.
- djmips 4y ago
  I fell the synth is overlooked. There's a lot going on there in a tiny amount of code.
  - Shared404 4y ago
    Definitely true! I've played around with audio a little bit before, and am a little more comfortable there (though by no means proficient).
- djmips 4y ago
  Thankfully for the graphics the very person who did the graphics in this Elevated demo is very generous with their time. Inigo Quilez has many instructional videos on his channel in how to code procedural graphics from the very beginner to the advanced. I link a couple of examples. You can watch the more advanced video even as a beginner but trying yourself is easier at the beginner level. Beginner. https://youtu.be/0ifChJ0nJfM https://youtu.be/0ifChJ0nJfM Advanced. https://youtu.be/BFld4EBO2RE https://youtu.be/BFld4EBO2RE Website. https://iquilezles.org/ https://iquilezles.org/
Daneel_ 4y ago
The most impressive one for me will always be fr-08, the .product, released in 2000: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dcrV_7JpXQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dcrV_7JpXQ Pouet link if you want the binary: https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=1221 https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=1221 It blew my mind when I first came across it in 2003, and it's still highly impressive even now.
- pvitz 4y ago
  My most favourite demo of 2000 was "Heaven 7" by Exceed [0]. That someone could do smooth raytracing (of course with many tricks, but still...) was mindblowing for me. [0] https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=5 https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=5
- twic 4y ago
  The most impressive for me, in a slightly different way, is A Mind is Born, because it manages to do some simple but impactful sound and video in 256 bytes, on a Commodore 64: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26511266 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26511266
  - glouwbug 4y ago
    His other work is great too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNCqrylNY-0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNCqrylNY-0
  - routerl 4y ago
    I still listen to that song just by itself. It's such an amazing demo.
    - twic 4y ago
      I was at a film festival, and saw a short film about AI or something. The film used just the music for the end credits! I told the director i appreciated the reference, and he was amazed someone recognised it.
- bayindirh 4y ago

rl3 4y ago

>I really hope it continues to be possible for this art form to exist. Hopefully AI doesn't one day ruin the demoscene as well. Seems like a Pandora's box for cheating and/or asymmetric resource advantages.

ygra 4y ago
The same may have been said about most other technologies introduced. The fact that a Windows .exe can do a lot more because it has access to DirectX doesn't invalidate the effort made in a demo of the same size made for the C64. There simply are different categories. I don't think they'll be much ruining going on. The people who make these demos use everything they can get their hands on, as long as it helps with cool visuals, a great soundtrack, and sandal executable size. In terms of how they get there everything seems to be allowed and even expected. And if one of those things is a trained network, so be it. Many groups have their own custom tools or even one-offs for only one demo.
- rl3 4y ago
  Well put, I think you're correct.

Shared404 4y ago

How would one even learn how to do something like this? I feel like I have a high level understanding of most parts of the stack, but graphics programming has eluded me thus far. Would writing a ray tracer be a good starter project? I know I've seen it recommended by several people before.

temp13 4y ago
I'd recommend starting with javascript: https://thebookofshaders.com/ https://thebookofshaders.com/ https://threejs.org/examples/#webgl_geometry_terrain_raycast https://threejs.org/examples/#webgl_geometry_terrain_raycast
- Shared404 4y ago
  I appreciate the recommendation to start with JS, I'm actually trying to avoid targeting the browser as much as possible with my projects, with the exception of things actually returning hypertext or that I get for free via wasm or something else. The Book of Shaders looks quite interesting however, thank you for the link!
  - duskwuff 4y ago
    I'd encourage you to reconsider that. Using WebGL lets you skip over a lot of tedious initialization. Or, even better, using a platform like shadertoy.net lets you skip all the JS as well and just write shaders. Using these tools doesn't mean your final project has to be JS-based as well. It just happens to be a convenient way to focus on specific aspects of the project.
djmips 4y ago
I fell the synth is overlooked. There's a lot going on there in a tiny amount of code.
- Shared404 4y ago
  Definitely true! I've played around with audio a little bit before, and am a little more comfortable there (though by no means proficient).
djmips 4y ago
Thankfully for the graphics the very person who did the graphics in this Elevated demo is very generous with their time. Inigo Quilez has many instructional videos on his channel in how to code procedural graphics from the very beginner to the advanced. I link a couple of examples. You can watch the more advanced video even as a beginner but trying yourself is easier at the beginner level. Beginner. https://youtu.be/0ifChJ0nJfM https://youtu.be/0ifChJ0nJfM Advanced. https://youtu.be/BFld4EBO2RE https://youtu.be/BFld4EBO2RE Website. https://iquilezles.org/ https://iquilezles.org/

Daneel_ 4y ago

The most impressive one for me will always be fr-08, the .product, released in 2000: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dcrV_7JpXQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dcrV_7JpXQ Pouet link if you want the binary: https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=1221 https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=1221 It blew my mind when I first came across it in 2003, and it's still highly impressive even now.

pvitz 4y ago
My most favourite demo of 2000 was "Heaven 7" by Exceed [0]. That someone could do smooth raytracing (of course with many tricks, but still...) was mindblowing for me. [0] https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=5 https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=5
twic 4y ago
The most impressive for me, in a slightly different way, is A Mind is Born, because it manages to do some simple but impactful sound and video in 256 bytes, on a Commodore 64: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26511266 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26511266
- glouwbug 4y ago
  His other work is great too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNCqrylNY-0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNCqrylNY-0
- routerl 4y ago
  I still listen to that song just by itself. It's such an amazing demo.
  - twic 4y ago
    I was at a film festival, and saw a short film about AI or something. The film used just the music for the end credits! I told the director i appreciated the reference, and he was amazed someone recognised it.
bayindirh 4y ago