PIC:barclip2.ilbm

CL9:     The Demoscene - The Basics
PIC:barclip2.ilbm

CL4:            By Zerox/Gods
 
CL7:INTRODUCTION

CL1:In  the  past  issue of the EuroChart,
and  the  past issues of D.I.S.C, I've
tried  to have a guide to the Amiga in
cyberspace,    featuring    the   most
important  sites  to  gain information
about     the    latest    scene-news,
productions,   persons,   parties  and
irc-channels.   This  time I return to
the  basics, so this is a guide to the
scene  for beginners.  Hopefully there
are  still some of you out there.  The
information for this article was taken
from everywhere.

CL7:THE SCENE - WHAT IS IT?

CL1:I  guess  some new sceners only have a
vage idea about what the scene is.  So
it's  definately  time  to write about
the basics.

CL0:The Amiga scene consists of a bunch of
people  very fascinated by and devoted
to  the  Amiga,  and  who also want to
create   certain  productions.   These
people  are  often refered to as Amiga
sceners,  because  they're a part of a
quite   small   and   perhaps   unique
underground  community,  who use their
talents to be creative on this special
computer.   Before the Amiga scene was
so  big that it was impossible to have
an oversight over who were sceners and
not.   Today  it's  easier to find out
who belong to our scene and who don't;
some  are  a  lot  more  active  being
creative  than  others  though.   It's
possible  to  be  a  part of the scene
without making any productions at all,
some   only   spread   and  watch  the
productions  others make, they stay in
touch  with other sceners, hang out at
the  special Amiga IRC channels, visit
different  Amiga  computer  events and
more.   The various sceners play their
own  role  in  the  scene though.  The
scene  is  not  strictly organized nor
does it have any special rules.

CL1:The  various  sceners  have  different
parts  to  play in the scene, the most
usual     functions    are;    Coders,
Graphicians,   Musicians,  Raytracers,
Editors,      Organizers,      Traders
(swappers),   Sysops,  Webmasters  and
ascii/ansi  makers.   I'll  talk  more
about these functions later on.

CL7:WHAT IS BEING MADE?

CL1:Demos,  in  the  wide  meaning  of the
word,  are  created.   Amiga  demos or
demonstrations,     are     executable
programs created purely for the fun of
it;  to  push the technical limits, to
impress  other  sceners, to create art
or actually just to be creative on the
Amiga.    The   demos   are  featuring
impressive        or       spectacular
audiovisuals.   Demos are not actually
functional   or  interactive,  in  the
main, they're just like other kinds of
art.  Demos can perhaps be compared to
a  music video on a computer, but with
more  or  less  equal  emphasis on the
visuals,  the  music,  and  the  code.
Demos   can  look  very  much  like  a
dance-music-video  shown  on  MTV  for
instance,  very much like a collection
of   computerised   effects  sequenced
together,  or  something which doesn't
look   like   anything   else.    It's
something  to watch, enjoy, and admire
the creativity of.

CL0:There  are  various demos/productions.
The  word  "demo"  is just the general
term for a demonstration.

CL1:We have something which we simply call
demos  (like  videoclips),  which  are
bigger demonstrations.  We have intros
(short  for  introductions), which are
smaller demos.  We have dentros, which
is  something  in  between  demos  and
intros.   Earlier we also had trackmos
(which  are  demos which don't use the
Amiga-DOS to load), we had mintros and
lots  more.  We still have musicdisks,
which  are  selectable  collections of
tunes    by    musicians,    we   have
slideshows,  which  are collections of
pictures    by    graphics    artists,
diskmags,    which    are   electronic
magazines,   and  a  special  form  of
diskmags,  charts,  which  are digital
mags  that  mainly feature charts over
the   most   popular  productions  and
sceners.  In addition to this, we have
news-portals  on  the  internet, which
perhaps   could   be  described  as  a
demonstration as well?

CL7:WHO ARE MAKING THE PRODUCTIONS?

CL1:Productions are the result of the work
of  various  sceners,  who are usually
organized  into  groups.  These groups
have  names  and  comprise a number of
members  with  various functions.  The
members in these groups have different
handles,  instead  of using their real
name.

CL0:In  a  group,  each member has his own
work to complete.

CL6:-  Coder,  he  is the one who programs
the  different  effects/parts  of  the
demo  and  includes  the  graphics and
music.

- Graphician,   he   is   usually  the
designer  of  the  demo.  He draws the
pictures,  logos,  fonts, backgrounds,
etc.

-  Musician,  he  is the one who makes
the soundtrack for the demo.

CL1:The coder, graphician and musician are
the most important members of a group.
Without  them,  a  group can't reach a
good   level  and,  of  course,  can't
produce  a single demo.  Then, you can
have some other members in a group.
 
CL6:-  Raytracer, he is a kind of graphist
but  he  is  generally using rendering
software  instead.   He is mainly used
to  create  animations or to define 3d
objects.

-   Swapper,  a  swapper  was  usually
working  by  mail.  His work was to be
in   touch  with  members  from  other
groups  in  order to spread his groups
productions  and  to  get  productions
from  other  groups.  These days there
are only a handful of swappers left.

- Trader, usually, a trader is someone
who  is swapping demos via bbs and now
more   and   more  via  Internet  too.
Except from this difference, it is the
same thing as a swapper.

-  Sysop, a sysop (SYStem OPerator) is
somebody who is ruling a BBS (Bulletin
Board  System).   On  this BBS, we are
able    to    get   all   the   latest
productions.   The  usual  boards  and
sysops  have  more  or  less vanished.
Now,   we  have  webmasters,  who  are
"sysops"    on   the   internet,   for
news-portals for example.

- Editor, he either writes articles in
his  own  digital  magazine, or writes
for  other  magazines.   Generally  an
editor is a scene journalist.

- Organizer, earlier the organizer was
the  chief  of  his group.  These days
the  organizer  simply keeps the group
together  and  communicates  with  all
members.     Then    there   are   the
partyorganizers,  who organize various
computer events.

-   Ascii/Ansi   maker.    They   make
ascii/ansi   logos   to   include   in
collections or in various productions.

CL1:The  sceners  come from all around the
globe,   but  the  majority  of  Amiga
sceners come from Europe.  Scandinavia
has been one of the biggest sources of
demos, but Germany, France and Holland
have produced a lot of demos too.  For
several  years now eastern Europe, and
espcially  Poland,  has  been  a major
supplier   of   demos.   Except  this,
countries     such     as     Austria,
Switzerland, England, Italy, Spain and
Belgium have also been known to have a
demoscene.   In  the  past  there were
many  sceners  in  countries  such  as
Turkey  and  Austrailia too, and other
countries as well.  These days all the
national    scenes   are   small,   or
non-existant.

CL7:HOW DID THE SCENE BEGIN?

CL1:The computer scene started a long time
ago,  perhaps  in the beginning of the
eighties.   On which computer it first
started  is  a  good  question.   Some
people say the zx81; maybe, but it got
its  real development on the Commodore
64.  Maybe you remember the C64 intros
that  crackers  had  inserted  in  the
beginning, as loaders  of the games to
tell   you   who  brought  it  to  you
(illegally  cracked  the  game).  This
was  the  beginning  of the demoscene,
and  intros/demos  gradually  expanded
into being programmed just for fun, or
as  a  way for the programmer to show.
When the scene first started on Amiga,
is  also hard to say.  But probably as
soon as the first Amiga was launched.

CL0:The  first  amiga  computer, the Amiga
1000,  was  released  by  Commodore In
July     1985.     It    featured    a
multitasking,    windowing   operating
system,  using  a  Motorola 68000 CPU,
with  256Kb  RAM,  and  880Kb 3.5 inch
disk  drive.   It  certainly  wasn't a
cheap  computer,  but at that time, it
was  years  ahead  of the competition.
Featuring custom chipsets for graphics
and  sound and an incredible operating
system,  it  was  the  best choice for
anyone  interested in sound, graphics,
video, multimedia and games.  In other
words,  this  computer was perfect for
making   any  kind  of  demonstration.
Therefore  the  most  special computer
scene  of  them  all, the Amiga scene,
evolved.

CL1:The  real  breakthrough  for Amiga was
the  release  of  the  Amiga  500,  in
January  1987  at  the Winter CES.  It
featured a 68000 processor, 512Kb RAM,
floppy  disk drive and custom chipsets
for  animation,  video and audio.  And
above  all,  it  was much cheaper than
the Amiga 1000.  It was a real success
and   tons  of  brilliant  games  were
released  for  it.   In  fact, 2 years
later,   in  January  1989,  Commodore
announced   that   1   million   Amiga
computers  had  been sold.  Not all of
the  Amiga users became Amiga sceners,
but  in  the beginning of the 90s, the
Amiga  scene  was  rather  big.  Other
computers  arrived  too,  Amiga  2000,
Amiga  1500,  Amiga  3000, A600, A1200
and  A4000,  in  addition  to CDTV and
CD32.

CL0:From  around  1994/95  the  scene  has
decreased   for  each  year,  but  the
demonstrations  have become better and
better.   Perhaps  because the sceners
have grown older and more experienced?
But  certainly  also because of add-on
cards like  PPC-turbo  cards and other
accelerators.   With  the AmigaOne and
new  OS4.0, we all hope that the scene
will  get  a  new  boost.  We hope not
only  that  the  productions  will  be
better,  but  also that new people are
being  recruited  to  the scene.  With
the  recent  Thendic-Amiga litigation,
it's  hard  to  say  what will happen.
Anyway,  the scene has managed without
any  new machine for the last 9 years,
so we'll last some more.

CL7:HOW  CAN  I FIND INFORMATION ABOUT THE
SCENE AND HOW CAN I JOIN THE SCENE?

CL1:This  is quite easy these days.  First
of   all,   you   can  find  essential
information  about  the  demoscene  at
www.scenia.net   and   www.diskmag.de.
There you'll  find  links to ftp sites
where    you    can   download   Amiga
productions     (such    as    aminet,
scene.org, amigascne, pouet), links to
groups  and  persons  you can contact,
and  information about computer events
you  can  visit  to meet sceners.  You
can also post messages at news-forums,
or   perhaps  you  already  know  some
sceners who  can help you get started?

CL0:If  you  want to be creative and start
making  productions  yourself, you can
ask  sceners for help.  If you want to
code,    you   need   some   kind   of
instructions  (which  are available at
the ftp sites and you can read helpful
articles  in  diskmags).  And whatever
you  decide  to  do, you also need the
basic  software  to  be  able to code,
make  graphics  and music, or actually
write.

CL7:WHICH  GROUPS AND PERSONS ARE INVOLVED
IN THE SCENE NOWADAYS?

CL1:It  would  be  too much to mention all
the  sceners  and groups.  But some of
the  important Amiga groups the latest
years  are  Ephidrena,  IRIS, Loonies,
Mad  Wizards, Mankind, Potion, Scarab,
Spaceballs,        Contraz,       Push
Entertainment,    The   Black   Lotus,
Nature, Encore, Kangooroo and Creative
Minds  to  mention some, in no special
order.

CL7:THE PRODUCTIONS

CL1:From the beginning of the scene in the
mid  80s  until  now,  there have been
released  many  thousand  productions.
Nobody  in  the  world  knows how many
productions  that  have been released,
infact  most  of  them are now lost or
hidden among departed sceners.

CL0:However, it's possible to mention some
great  productions  that should not be
forgotten,  like the demos; Demon Demo
by DOC, Filled Vectors by IT, MegaDemo
by  Red  Sector Inc., Vectorballs demo
by  Thomas  Landsburg, Mental Hangover
demo  by Scoopex, The Hunt for the 7th
October by Cryptoburners, Trip to Mars
by  Tomsoft,  MegaDemo II by Budbrain,
Iraq-demo   by  Animators,  Enigma  by
Phenomena,  Virtual  World by TomSoft,
Odyssey   by  Alcatraz,  Hardwired  by
Silents  &  Crionics,  Yoyage by Razor
1911,  Substance  by  Quartex,  Global
Trash  by  Silents, Elysium by Sanity,
Alpha  and  Omega by PMC, State of the
Art  by  Spaceballs,  3d  Demo  II  by
Anarchy,   Wayfarer   by   Spaceballs,
D.O.S.   by Andromeda, Guardian Dragon
II  by  Kefrens,  In  the  Kitchen  by
Anarchy,  WOC  by Sanity, Extension by
Pygmy   Projects,   Desert   Dream  by
Kefrens,  Origin by Complex, Full Moon
by  Virtual  Dreams/Fairlight, Arte by
Sanity,   9   Fingers  by  Spaceballs,
Interference  by  Sanity,  Nexus  7 by
Andromeda,  Sequential  by  Andromeda,
Mindflow  by  Stellar, Breath Taker by
Virtual   Dreams,   Real  by  Complex,
Psychedelic  by Virtual Dreams, Motion
by   Bomb,   Switchback   by   Rebels,
Greenday  by Artwork, ZIF by Parallax,
Logic  by  Pygmy Projects, Miracles by
Stellar,   Closer  by  CNCD,  Deep  by
Parallax  &  CNCD, Visions by Oxygene,
Tint  by TBL, Sumea by Virtual Dreams,
Dim  by  Mellow  Chips,  The  Gate  by
Artwork,   Glow  by  TBL,  Muscles  by
Impulse,  Shaft  7  by Bomb, Divine by
Mellow  Chips, Captured Dreams by TBL,
Exit  Planet  Dust by Artwork, Deus Ex
Machina  by  Limited  Edition, Dose by
MellowChips,  Papadeo2 by Floppy, Y'on
by  Anadune  &  Floppy,  My Kingdom by
Haujobb  &  Scoopex Killer Automatique
by  CNCD, Relic by Nerve Axis, Rise by
TRSI,  Alien  2  by  Scoopex,  XIII by
Oxyron, Aphrodisia by Haujobb, Rain by
TBL, Mnemonics by Haujobb, Concrete by
Ephidrena, When We Ride On Our Enemies
by  Skarla,  SmokeBomb by Ozone, Klone
by          Dual         Crew-Shining,
Cybercinematastic  by  Loonies, I Want
To  Be  Machine  by Appendix, Megademo
2000  by Haujobb, J by Ephidrena, Back
to  the roots by Haujobb, Senseless by
TBL,  Lapsuus  by  MatureFurk, Perfect
Circle  by  TBL,  Hotstyle Takeover by
Loonies,  Adam Malysz vs.  Wienerwurst
by  Ephidrena,  Amsterdam Blessings by
Mawi,   Cruel   Karma   Forms  by  Mad
Wizards, PowerGod by Spaceballs, Third
Eye  Conqueror  by  Mad Wizards, Heavy
Traffic      by      Mad      Wizards,
Demoscope/Creative  Minds,  Kheshkhash
by  Encore  &  Scenic,  Little Nell by
TBL,      Tribute      by      Scarab,
MindMatterElectricity by Reason, Light
II  by  IRIS,  Fate  Fits Karma by Mad
Wizards, Magia by TBL, Till I Feel You
by    Mad    Wizards,   Lysbryter   by
Ephidrena,  Fake  Elektronik Lightshow
by  Ephidrena, We were dark helmets by
Spaceballs,  By  Night  by  Encore, My
Defination   In  Blue  by  Scarab  and
Mental by Push Entertainment.

CL1:If    you've   seen   all   of   these
productions  or  even just ten procent
of  them,  you  already  know what the
scene   is   all   about;  creativity,
pushing limits, having fun while doing
it,  traveling  and  socializing.  And
then  I guess you can have a break and
don't   watch   productions  the  next
years...   :-)  On  the other hand, if
you   haven't   seen   many  of  these
productions,  it's time to take a dive
into  the fantastic world of the Amiga
scene.   Who knows?  The next years it
may  be  YOU  who  impress us all with
your creativity and skills.  If you're
an   old  scener,  feeling  tired  and
demotivated,  it could also be wise to
rediscover   what  the  scene  is  all
about.   Arrange  a  demo-evening  and
pick  out  some  great demos to watch,
visit   a   party  or  other  sceners,
hopefully   you  should  by  now  have
gotten  new  inspiration  to  continue
being creative.
