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CL9:     Teach a Man to Make Demos
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CL4:               By Wade

CL1:I'm  sure  most  readers  are familiar
with  the  old  adage,  "Give  a man a
fish;  you  have  fed  him  for today.
Teach  a man to fish; and you have fed
him for a lifetime."

CL0:In these desperate times, we could all
learn  something from this and attempt
to  keep the scene alive by passing on
our  wisdom and teaching other sceners
our crafts.

CL1:The  functioning  and  the survival of
the  scene  has  always  rested on the
unity  of  its  participants.  Editors
depend  on  writers  to  support their
magazines,   writers  depend  on  demo
makers  to  inspire  them, artists and
musicians  depend  on  coders  to  use
their  work, while coders depend on an
appreciative  audience  to  make their
work  worthwhile.   What  was  once an
enjoyable  and engaging pastime, then,
has  become little more than a test of
patience,  a  matter  of  waiting  for
something to happen.

CL0:But  what if more people had the means
of  producing  their  own demos, mags,
slideshows  and  music  disks  without
having  to  rely on others?  All those
talented  and enthusiastic sceners who
have  spent  their scene lives waiting
for  their  work  to  be picked up and
used  would  be  able to release their
own  work,  apply  their own ideas and
fill  scene  archives  with a constant
supply of new productions.

CL1:For   many  years  now,  Haujobb  have
become   known  as  one  of  the  most
respected  and most active demo groups
on  the  PC  scene,  releasing several
demos  per  year,  many  of which were
produced     without     the    active
participation  of  a single coder.  In
fact,  much  of Haujobb's activity and
success over the years comes down to a
single  scener:   the highly acclaimed
graphic artist and designer, Visualice
(now  a  former  member of Hjb).  This
was   made   possible   thanks   to  a
scripting  engine,  produced by coders
Droid   and  Cynic,  which  employs  a
high-level   language   to   load   3d
objects, graphics and music, and which
gives    the    user    control   over
sequencing,  transparency,  timing and
camera movements.  Although there is a
limit    to    the    routines,   and,
consequently,  the technical appeal of
such   demos,  a  great  deal  can  be
achieved  with  the  design, music, 3d
and ideas alone.

CL0:Haujobb,  however,  are  not  the only
group  to  use  recycled  code in this
manner.  Many groups have earned scene
success  and  admiration through using
scripting  engines,  or  through using
the   famous   demo   maker/sequencer,
Demopaja.   Demopaja  is the brainwork
of   coder   Memon/Moppi  Productions.
Taking  the  form of a straightforward
GUI,   it   allows   users  to  import
graphics and 3d objects and manipulate
them  in  a  variety  of ways.  What's
more,  and  what  has  to  be the most
endearing feature of Demopaja, is that
it  gives  its  users absolute control
over   all  aspects  of  movement  and
sequencing,  right  down  to  the most
intricate  synchronisation.   For this
reason, many groups have chosen to use
Demopaja in conjunction with their own
code,  via  plugins and altered source
code.

CL1:Groups  known  to  have  used Demopaja
include     its     creators,    Moppi
Productions, whose demos placed second
at   Assembly  2001,  2002  and  2003;
Doomsday,  winners  of  Assembly 2003;
Caladox,  Mandarine,  and  the  highly
active  Marshalls, each with their own
personal     style,     quality    and
imagination.

CL0:Of   course,  there  has  always  been
stigma  attached  to using demo makers
in  the scene, but as more groups show
what  they  are  capable of achieving,
and  sceners  begin to see the massive
variation  and originality that can be
attained  without an active coder, the
overall  benefits  to  the  scene  are
obvious.

CL1:Instead  of  a  long line of technical
demos  created  by colour-blind coders
for  other  colour-blind  coders, such
engines  open  up the creation process
to  competent  designers,  artists and
even  technically  inept,  yet  highly
imaginative  amateurs, such as our old
friends,  The  Fearmoths, who - to the
surprise  of  most  -  have realized a
couple   of  entertaining  and  moving
ideas.

CL0:The  Amiga  scene is dying, and that's
not  because  every  single scener has
quit,  but  because  the  most pivotal
sceners  can  or  no  longer  wish  to
participate.   So  as a last favour to
the  scene,  why  not create something
that  will  last?   Why not distribute
your  source  code, write tutorials or
work  towards  a  recyclable scripting
engine, magazine engine, or even a GUI
that  others  can  continue  to use in
order to sustain and rebuild the scene
they still love?


           PIC:shade1


