"THE DEMO BOOK THAT NEVER WAS..."

INTRODUCTION:

Today is June 3, 1995 and I have decided to start this demo book project. 
There is a lot to tell and a bunch of it has already been written--mainly in
the form of interviews, party reviews, and a definition I wrote on demos a few
years ago.  I actually have a little scrap book from 1993 that tells a little
story.

Sometimes I sit back and think WHY DEMOS?  A hard question to answer indeed. 
I have a hard time believing Escape and now Freedom were produced.  Maybe this
book will answer the question of WHY, maybe it will go unanswered.  Like
skating, painting, swimming, are a hobby for some demos are a hobby for me and
likely most of you reading this.

I have decided to type this up in Word Perfect 6.0 using WINDOWS 95--beta
release, and or WIN 3.1, and or WIN 3.11.  Every copy of Windows I get seems
to have problems--especially as I add more stuff to it--but word processing in
DOS sucks.  Many demo freaks swear against Windows and Microsoft for various
reasons.  Hey, I don't want to lose DOS either...why Microsoft wants to go the
route of FULL GUI is beyond me as there is already a superior GUI system on
the market called the APPLE MACINTOSH.  

MY BEGINNINGS IN DEMOS:

I have been interested in demos ever since I got my first REAL computer--a
Commodore 128 back on December 25, 1985.  Yes, about a decade ago I was 15
years old and quite interested in getting some kind of computer.  Quite to my
surprise I got a Commodore--Schools were using Apples, and the Atari 800XL was
more popular.  I remember going back to school after the break and having a
computer teacher (APPLE BASIC) ask the class if anyone got a computer over
Christmas.  No one raised their hand, not even me.  Computers were for nerds--
everyone knew that and I didn't want to admit I was a nerd.

I was in the tenth grade at the time and knew no one who had a Commodore
computer.  A little bit of networking brought me a contact at school with a C-
64 and many games/stuff followed soon after.  After the Summer I bought a used
300 baud modem and got my first taste of BBSing.  I was hooked, BBSing was an
addiction and that is about all I would do when I got home from school for
about an hour or two everyday.  I met new friends, traders, and learned about
demos.  Multi line D&D games were in their infancy these days and tons of
people were hooked--including myself.  Like IRC/internet but on a smaller
scale.

I think the first demo I ever saw on the C-64 came in 1987 and was called the
DNC-Megademo.  Pretty amazing vertical scrolling in the boarder--how?  Before
this time I had seen many crack screens with cool music, but no "demo."  I
collected demos from then on till early 1994 when I stopped using my C-128
after getting a 386DX-40 which I used until I upgraded to a Pentium 90 in July
'95.  Most of the 25 disk or so of C64 demos I have came out in the later 80's
before I went off to college (1988).  I did about 1 disk full of demos which
has some from 1987 to 1989 I believe.  None of which could compare to the cool
demos coming out at the time--I was always a couple years behind.
Today my C-128 sits partly in my closet and partly in a corner of my room--
unused.  I kind of want to sell it but I also want to keep it because of the
demos I have and have done myself.  It is a classic machine.  Makes me wonder
where I would be had I not gotten it that Christmas.  Would I still be an
Electrical Engineer with a strong interest in computers?  Would I be a more
"open" person (social)?  I always wonder about things like that.  What if I
had taken another route.  Being who I am (coy) I probably would have found
myself drawn to computers eventually.  I have full control and there are
others OUT THERE who I can associate with that are just like me--people with
whom I can relate too.  But who knows if I would have ever discovered demos. 
I have not seen any on the old Apple/Atari 8bits.

It was not until Mid 1992 that I discovered a PC demo scene existed via an
ASSEMBLY '92 invite tro called FISHTRO.  The rest, as they say, is history. 
Well, not exactly.  There is actually a lot more...

**SEE DEMO22.TXT = DEMONEWS.022**

A file within this directory/book called DEMO22.TXT explains the above and how
I started the internet demo site (aka HORNET demo site).  I retired from
maintain almost a year after I started but ended up returning to revive the
site since the maintainer I chose let the site go to hell in a handbasket. 
This was of course after my big trip to ASSEMBLY 93.  I wrote up my journey
for your enjoyment and it can be read in the file called ASM93.TXT.  Be warned
that it is quite long and contains writing before, during, and after Assembly. 
Basically it contains my whole trip.  I also did a "report" for a diskmag
called MAYHEM I and a couple other people produced.  This file is called
ASM93RPT.TXT

**SEE ASM93.TXT and ASM93RPT.TXT**  

The reason for retiring as maintainer was my graduation in 1993 (5 years after
I started) with a BSEE degree.  I did not have a job by the time ASSEMBLY
rolled around so a few friends and I decided to check it out.  Sometime around
Fall 1993, still jobless, I got the new maintainer to give the job back to me. 
I then maintained the site as best I could for the next year and continued to
put out DEMONEWS (also on this FREEDOM CD).  Then, after Christopher and I
released the ESCAPE CD I decided I needed to finally retire from
maintaining...and perhaps demos in general.  Well, I'm retired from
maintaining the demosite for good but I'll always have a liking for demos. 
Their magnetism draws me in; I can not explain it.

**SEE ESCAPE.TXT AND ESCAPE2.TXT**

Be sure to check out ESCAPE.TXT and ESCAPE2.TXT.  These contain the
information that appeared on the CD as well as information about the CD
itself.  An intro titled ESCAPE.ZIP was created to help spread the news about
the Escape CD.  This intro can be found in the /demos/misc directory on this
CD.

UNDERSTANDING DEMOS:

**SEE BOARDW.TXT, DDJ.TXT, AND PC_ENT.TXT**

Letting some writing I did regarding demos several years ago (1993) will help
you understand demos.  I wrote a little press release for the internet demo
site and sent it to "Boardwatch" magazine (A BBS magazine of sorts).  To my
amazement they actually did a little piece on demos (Read BOARDW.TXT).  I also
sent this press release to a few other magazines and two expressed interest--
"Dr. Dobbs Journal", and "Game Players PC Entertainment."  A well done piece
with a couple color pictures appeared in "Game Players PC Entertainment." 
Check out PC_ENT.TXT for the full article which included a couple quotes by
me--Tim and I talked on the phone and over E-mail.  "Dr. Dobbs Journal" came
to me and mentioned doing an article which I would get paid for.  The article
would deal with coding some of these effects and would contain a "demos"
sidebar.  I wrote the article and had Joshua Jensen doing code.  Unfortunately
Joshua never finished the code and the article (DDJ.TXT) never got printed. 
These three pieces do a good job at explaining demos even though they are a
couple years old.

Perhaps the most surprising thing to come out of all the PRing I did during
the summer of '93 was a potential book offer.  I was quite amazed by this and
pursued it for awhile.  Something like $500 up front, $500 upon delivery and
about 10% from every book is what the deal worked out to.  Had I accepted I
probably could have had the BOOK out late 1994 instead of the ESCAPE CD. 
However, based on my experience with the "Dr. Dobbs" article, and ESCAPE I
know I would have had a tough time getting other people to help with the
CODING/HISTORY/MISC section of the book.  Hell, right here is your "Demo Book
That Never Was"  and look at how short it is.  Perhaps if I dedicated a lot
more time toward the subject I could actually write a full book.  But not
without a lot of cooperation from others.

HISTORY:

The old quote "Don't know much about History..." just about sums up this
section.  Back when I had my C-64 I recall seeing CRACK screen intros by
groups before actual demos.  So, saying that demo groups grew out of cracking
groups would likely be a good assumption.  Some groups even had (maybe some
still have) cracking and demo sections.  Hey, putting a little intro on a game
you "cracked" was a good way at letting people know about your group.  Other
groups saw this, jumped on the bandwagon and sure enough group A was trying to
out due group B in not only cracking the better games but coding a better
intro.  Soon enough the coders just wrote intros, and spread them to show off
their talents.  Intros got bigger and developed into mega intros or what we
now know as demos--which were a production themselves and no longer associated
with something tacked onto a cracked game.  

Isn't it interesting how something GOOD and entertaining grows out of
something illegal.  This is how I remember demos starting out.  The lucky
computer was very likely the Commodore 64 with the Apple II, and Atari 800
close behind.  I can recall seeing crack intros on Apple games in the early
80's but never saw any demos.  If there were they never had the following/push
that the Commodore did.  Most likely because the Commodore was the dominant
computer over in Europe where it seems crack intros and demos originated.

 
PURPOSE:

It is hard to explain the purpose behind demos--at least in my own words.  I
only coded demos on the C-64 and never was much good at doing such.  Read the
profiles of the typical demo coders, musicians, watcher, etc. elsewhere in
this demobook to get a better understanding.  I'm in the scene because I enjoy
watching/collecting demos.  The music, graphics, and effects scream at me. 
Demos are like a movie, art show, and concert all rolled into one--call them
music videos if you want.  The most interesting aspect is that they are
created by people who are not being paid--unless they win a competition with
their production.
I just hope that when these young coders, musicians, artist start making some
money it doesn't all go to their head and spoil their future work.

CULTURE--THE SCENE:

Visit the "Demo Freaks' Profile" section of this demobook for a user profile
of a few scene people.  Hey, you may have even heard of some of these people. 
This will hopefully give you a good overview of what people within this demo
scene are like.

The Amiga, PC, and even Commodore C64 have what many call a "scene."  Groups
exist on each of these platforms.  They code, create music and graphics, and
compete in competitions with their productions.  The scene is much bigger over
in Europe than here in the United States.  I don't think anyone has come up
with a good reason why the scene in the US is so much smaller.  Perhaps it is
due to Television, more $ opportunities, and less organized DEMO parties.

CREATING A DEMO:

I know what I like but I couldn't tell you where to begin in your coding. 
Check out the /CODE directory on this CD for source and help with coding. 
Learning a language like C/C++ will definitely help.  And while your at it,
after learning proper programming techniques, go ahead and learn some
Assembly.  If you ever want to make a ground breaking demo it will likely need
to be coded in Assembly.  Performance man.  Do you want something big and slow
like Windows?  Then learn Assembly and how to code efficiently.

For those future musicians out there check out the /music directory on the
FREEDOM CD.  It contains tons of music composed by some of the top artist in
the scene as well as many others.  There are also TRACKERS and samples to help
you get started with your own tunes.  Hey, I have even provided all the
TraxWeekly issues so you understand how the best musicians in the PC scene
track their songs.

Artist will get a kick out of the /graphics directory.  There are a bunch of
graphics drawn by a variety of Amiga and PC artist.  Most, if not all, were
drawn in off the shelf (or shareware) paint programs.

Code, music, and art are the foundation of a demo.  I hope you find the stuff
we provided useful.  I'm also hoping that no one gets too upset if any of
their stuff was used without permission.

DEMO MANIA:

Want to get more demos--including the classics such as Unreal, Second Reality,
Crystal Dreams, Versus, Show, Panic and the like?  Your best bet is getting
internet access and using "FTP."  Be sure to check out:

ftp.cdrom.com /demos  (ftp.luth.se mirrors ftp.cdrom.com)
ftp.mpoli.fi  /starport

These are the two PC demo hotspots on the internet.  There are also a bunch of
music sites scattered through the internet.  Too many to name here.  Visiting
#trax on IRC will help you find those music sites.

If you do not have INTERNET access then you will have to find a BBS that has
demos--good luck.  Course, if you live in Europe, especially Finland then
finding a Demo based BBS should be pretty easy.  I've included some BBS adds
(bbs intros) in the /demos/bbs directory of this CD.  If you are real lucky
you will find a BBS within these files that is nearby.

Demo parties--where demo groups, musicians, and artists compete for money and
prizes--occur all the time in Europe.  Assembly, The Party, The Gathering are
the biggest in Europe, however many smaller parties (Wired, Juhla, SIH,
Demobit) are taking place all the time.  Over here in North America we have
NAID (Montreal, Canada) and will also have IMPULSE'95.  Impulse is expected to
be the first PC demo party in the United States (NY) and will be held in
October of 1995.  Course, Impulse will be old news by the time you read this.

Where do we go from here the final question might be. The SKY is NOT the limit
would have to be the response.  Machines are gaining in speed and complexity. 
Coders are pushing these machines to their limit.  But, 10 years after the
fact has the good ole Commodore 64 reached its limit?  Hard to say if you have
seen any of the most recent demos.  Yes, it is a dead and non supported
computer but many people still have them and there are still people who code
demos/stuff for the C64 over in Europe and other countries.  Hardware remains
about one generation above the what the coders are programming.  I imagine
five years down the road there will be software so any Joe Blow off the street
can create their own "demo" or music video.  Everything is canned.  And the
machines are so powerful it doesn't matter that the program takes 1 gig of
Hard Drive space and creates a 200 MEG music video with CD quality (44.1kHz)
music.  Maybe this won't happen though.  Too much technology, too much
information.

So, that is the long winded story folks.  Be sure to check out the other files
within this demo book.  They will provide you with a couple hours of reading
if you decide to read them all.

This book was finally completed around the middle of August 1995.

Way out there,

Dan Wright
