2 (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} 2_gryphon) wrote,@ 2008-11-11 21:36:00 |
|
Uncle 2.
Let me tell a story to the younger furries.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like if an artist could make art with your computer? Not art made with a computer but art made by programming the computer?
Back in the early 90's, when computers were still powered by MSDOS and Windows was just another program that you just ran occasionally, a hacker sat down at his computer and wrote a program to show off what he could do. With his litany of hacker tricks and knowledge of processor architecture, he was able to squeeze every ounce of computing power from a processing chip. When his friends ran his program, their screens lit up with polygons, colors and 3D shapes that spun and floated around the screen, being reflected in disembodied mirrors and lit from light sources that moved and changed colors. It wasn't a game or a utility. Its sole purpose just seemed to be... art!
And some amazing art it was! The hacker was able to put graphics and effects on a computer screen that few people realized was possible in those days. Not even commercial software companies could pull of the tricks this program did. In fact, the program was so amazing and beautiful to watch that it spread... a lot. Thousands of people got their hands on this simple, free, 4k program and were running it to show their friends what their computer could do.
Well, it wasn't long before the program fell into the hands of other hackers. And the other hackers thought, "Hey! I could do this! But I know some tricks this guy doesn't!" The hackers began to get together in groups, along with digital musicians (remember those .MOD files I showed you?) and they started making new programs they called "demos". And every time a new rash of demos came out, they'd be better and more impressive than the last.
In 1992, "Assembly" was started. It was a convention where these hacker groups from all over the world would come together and show off their newest, most impressive demo code. There were contests and awards given to the most impressive demos. The groups would always program "shout-outs" to their fellow hackers in their demos.
The contests had rules. The demos had to display the hackers' knowledge of things like procedural environment mapping, particle physics and reflection algorithms. And, at first, though many of the demos did push the technology to do things no one thought it could, they were mostly just eye candy and fancy effects.
Soon though, some of the hackers realized that they could show off their programming skills and tell a story at the same time! And soon, the entire demo scene was creating true computer art that was so amazing and unique that some of it is absolutely indescribable.
Now... this is a true story. The demo scene continues to thrive to this day, including the oldskool demo groups that were there when it started. These are programmers, artists and musicians who aren't paid to write music or program particle physics. They do it because it's their passion. They want to make something beautiful. What you see on your screen when the demo is playing is NOT a video. You don't play it in another program. There's no fast forward or rewind. This aren't bored gamers with Garry's Mod. The artists programmed this all themselves and it's YOUR own computer producing the graphics in REAL TIME.
I really hope that the demo scene will one day get the attention it deserves. Geniuses have been born in that scene to an art form that very few people have ever experienced.
Therefore... I would like to share some of it with you, if you'll allow me...
Go and download this file.
Unzip it. Go into the directory and click the .exe file.
Remember this was put together by hackers, so there's no customer support. It's for Windows, but it won't play on every computer. I strongly recommend selecting "windowed" mode to watch it.
Now, for those who cannot get the file to play, there is simply no substitute for the amazing resolution you'll get if your computer is generating the images. However, if you simply can't play the file, then it has been video captured. I'll embed it here.
But the point is for your own computer generate these images! So if you possibly can, download the .exe instead. Trust me, it's worth it!
Remember, these demos have been going around since 1990! There are THOUSANDS of them! If you'd like to know more about the demo scene and where to get more of these, look here...
http://www.demoscene.tv/
Enjoy!
Let me tell a story to the younger furries.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like if an artist could make art with your computer? Not art made with a computer but art made by programming the computer?
Back in the early 90's, when computers were still powered by MSDOS and Windows was just another program that you just ran occasionally, a hacker sat down at his computer and wrote a program to show off what he could do. With his litany of hacker tricks and knowledge of processor architecture, he was able to squeeze every ounce of computing power from a processing chip. When his friends ran his program, their screens lit up with polygons, colors and 3D shapes that spun and floated around the screen, being reflected in disembodied mirrors and lit from light sources that moved and changed colors. It wasn't a game or a utility. Its sole purpose just seemed to be... art!
And some amazing art it was! The hacker was able to put graphics and effects on a computer screen that few people realized was possible in those days. Not even commercial software companies could pull of the tricks this program did. In fact, the program was so amazing and beautiful to watch that it spread... a lot. Thousands of people got their hands on this simple, free, 4k program and were running it to show their friends what their computer could do.
Well, it wasn't long before the program fell into the hands of other hackers. And the other hackers thought, "Hey! I could do this! But I know some tricks this guy doesn't!" The hackers began to get together in groups, along with digital musicians (remember those .MOD files I showed you?) and they started making new programs they called "demos". And every time a new rash of demos came out, they'd be better and more impressive than the last.
In 1992, "Assembly" was started. It was a convention where these hacker groups from all over the world would come together and show off their newest, most impressive demo code. There were contests and awards given to the most impressive demos. The groups would always program "shout-outs" to their fellow hackers in their demos.
The contests had rules. The demos had to display the hackers' knowledge of things like procedural environment mapping, particle physics and reflection algorithms. And, at first, though many of the demos did push the technology to do things no one thought it could, they were mostly just eye candy and fancy effects.
Soon though, some of the hackers realized that they could show off their programming skills and tell a story at the same time! And soon, the entire demo scene was creating true computer art that was so amazing and unique that some of it is absolutely indescribable.
Now... this is a true story. The demo scene continues to thrive to this day, including the oldskool demo groups that were there when it started. These are programmers, artists and musicians who aren't paid to write music or program particle physics. They do it because it's their passion. They want to make something beautiful. What you see on your screen when the demo is playing is NOT a video. You don't play it in another program. There's no fast forward or rewind. This aren't bored gamers with Garry's Mod. The artists programmed this all themselves and it's YOUR own computer producing the graphics in REAL TIME.
I really hope that the demo scene will one day get the attention it deserves. Geniuses have been born in that scene to an art form that very few people have ever experienced.
Therefore... I would like to share some of it with you, if you'll allow me...
Go and download this file.
Unzip it. Go into the directory and click the .exe file.
Remember this was put together by hackers, so there's no customer support. It's for Windows, but it won't play on every computer. I strongly recommend selecting "windowed" mode to watch it.
Now, for those who cannot get the file to play, there is simply no substitute for the amazing resolution you'll get if your computer is generating the images. However, if you simply can't play the file, then it has been video captured. I'll embed it here.
But the point is for your own computer generate these images! So if you possibly can, download the .exe instead. Trust me, it's worth it!
Remember, these demos have been going around since 1990! There are THOUSANDS of them! If you'd like to know more about the demo scene and where to get more of these, look here...
http://www.demoscene.tv/
Enjoy!
