This article was originally intended to be published in Dr. Dobbs Journal.  It
all started when I was contacted by DDJ regarding a demo press release I sent
them.  They wanted code and programming stuff as well as an article about demos
which would be included as a sidebar.  Unfortunately the person I got to
produce the code part never came through thus the article never got printed.

Title: Demos--New Art or Undiscovered Treasure
By: Dan Wright
August 23, 1993
Final Draft.

WHAT IS A DEMO?

Ask the common computer user what a demo is and they will most likely
assimilate "demo" to a pre-release of a game or product. However, lost in this
definition is the multimedia art of combining graphics, music, design, and
coding into a program intended to impress and entertain. The best way to
understand a demo is to visualize the best game intro you have seen--amazing
graphics, excellent music, and unbeatable animation or other fx. A demo
contains the best of these characteristics. In fact, some people have even gone
so far as to consider demos the computer equivalent of a music video.

Due to demos non interactivity and freeware nature they attract a small
audience and thus many unfamiliar with demos consider them a type of "new art."
On the contrary, demos, also known as intros (small version of a demo), first
began in the early to mid 80's with the advent of the legendary Commodore 64.
From there demos spread to other computers including the Amiga and Atari ST.
Nowadays the Amiga remains the leading demo machine because of its
graphics/gaming ability. However, because of the PC advancement programmers are
turning toward these MSDOS based machines and giving the Amiga demo scene
comparable competition.

All demos are a collection of CODE, MUSIC, and GRAPHICS tied together by
DESIGN. These four characteristics from the early demo days are still valid
today. A typical demo contains an introduction, some type of smooth scrolling
text display, the groups graphical name (typically called a logo), and
something graphical like 3d graphics, vector graphics, or color effects, a
musical score that flows with the demo and some kind of conclusion often with
credits and greetings. Most demos DEMOnstrate new coding effects, some provide
a story, while others just entertain. On average these demos range in size from
several K to well over a meg and can run anywhere from a couple of minutes to
45 minutes in length (i.e. the Odyssey Amiga demo).

WHO DOES THIS?

These demos/intros are usually created by talented coders, musicians, and
graphics artist who form into a group and give themselves a recognizable name.
Perhaps as amazing as the demo itself are those who create them tend to be
students in their late teens to early twenties. Some code, like music systems,
are shared by many groups but typically each demo is uniquely developed from
music to graphics by the groups members. Groups such as Cascada, Electromotive
Force, Epical, Extreme, Future Crew, Triton, and Twilight Zone are well known
European PC demo groups. The only North American demo group that has released
anything comparable to the European groups was Renaissance. In fact,
Renaissance remained the #2 demo group (in the world) for over a half year.
With demo programming on the PC becoming popular in North America it will 
not be long before other groups emerge with European quality demos.

WHY DO THEY MAKE DEMOS?

At this point many people will wonder what motivates these people to spend
weeks and often months programming demos. Various reasons include fame in the
demo scene, pushing the machine to the limit, personal satisfaction, enjoyment,
friendship, and competing in large demo competitions for prizes and money.

Because the PC demo scene is growing the desire to be number one
coder/musician/graphics artist becomes more of a challenge. Having people know
you are the best of the best is very uplifting. A good analogy is when people
think of a great basketball team they think Bulls. Similarly, when people think
of a great PC demo group they think Future Crew. Because, like the Bulls, the
Future Crew have proved themselves time and again with such demo contributions
as Unreal, Panic, and Second Reality.

If you are interested in seeing what a machine can do speed, graphics, and
coding wise then watch a demo. The PC is reaching greater speeds every year and
demo coders are discovering new ways of exploiting this in their productions.
Satisfaction and the challenge to make the PC do what many say is impossible
also acts as a motivator. Then there is always the excitement of seeing the
final product as well as the enjoyment of putting everything together.

The demo scene is alive world-wide on every popular computer. Because of this
the ability to meet and make friends throughout the world with common interests
has drawn many to join this unique scene. It is a "scene" like other hobbies
however communication often takes place without ever seeing other members since
BBS's and the internet are often the meeting place. Most involved with demos
speak English and programming is universal so friendships are greatly
facilitated.

Finally, and maybe one of the greatest motivators, is participating in the demo
competitions held throughout the year in various parts of Europe. This is the
only time most groups can see their whole group, other groups, and enjoy a
common bond that draws over a thousand people to these gatherings. Various
competitions held annually include: The Gathering at Easter in Norway, The
Computer Crossroads during Springtime in Sweden, Assembly during the Summer in
Finland, and The Party during the Winter in Denmark. The most recent
competition was Assembly '93 which took place July 30-August 1 in Kerava,
Finland.

WHAT HAPPENS AT THESE GATHERINGS?

Assembly '93 was held at a school where about 1,500 demo enthusiast from the
Amiga, Atari ST, C-64, and PC were present. The cost for the three day affair
ran about $20 and included a place to rest--like a hallway or classroom. The
first days activities consisted of settling in and meeting with other people.
On day two of Assembly '93 groups entering the competition finished up their
productions before the 3pm deadline. That same day the competition began at 5pm
and ran through the night until about 5am when all the demos, intros, music,
and graphics had been show by the Amiga, C-64, and PC. The final day the
results were passed out and copies of most entries were made available before
people departed. At Assembly '93 the PC competition included Music (4-channel
and multi-channel music), Intros (<100K demos), Demos, and Graphics with over
$7,500 available in cash and prices to the top few entries.

WHERE DO I FIND DEMOS?

Since demos are free and growing in popularity they are becoming easier to
find. BBS's linked into the Creative Demo Network such as the Spasm-o-Tron (514-
744-5718) in Canada have messages bases dedicated to demos. Some other good
demo & programming BBS's include:

Quantum Accelerator  (701) 258-0319
Digital Oxygene      (214) 414-5014
Dead Man's Hand      (503) 288-9264
The Sound Barrier    (718) 979-6629
Programmer's Oasis   (214) 328-6142
Red Sector           (816) 792-3821

Though BBS's are great the internet has a couple sites, including ftp.uwp.edu
and ftp.eng.ufl.edu under the pub/msdos/demos directory, where demos, source
code, and utilities can be retrieved via anonymous ftp. There is also a USENET
group called comp.sys.ibm.pc.demos where demos and related topics are
discussed.

For more information about demos and the internet I suggest contacting some of
these people via E-mail:

Internet/demo info:      dmw@wasp.eng.ufl.edu
Style for C-64 info:     akersse@nextwork.rose-hulman.edu
Future Crew for PC info: jtheinon@kruuna.helsinki.fi

Thanks to Elwix/Style, and Gore/Future Crew for their assistance and comments.

