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When looking to demo released platform, windows is the most popular followed by old school machine like the C64.

- Why newest machine failed to attract demo maker?
- Why most demo sceners stick to hardware made by others?

I am surprise that a project like Vice wouldn't have include a newest version of the C64 based on what expert of the C64 demo scene would have like to see the next gen of C64?

Is it because a modern PC with Windows or Linux is the state of the art of what could be a demo platform? For each software think, there might be a library where you can link to. But, I am surprise to see that this architecture will please everyone?

Might be that people are using windows?
And C64 people are just zealots. Not the worst kind tho, that's AMIIIIIGA folks. C64 people just tend to be pretty active these days.
Linux people has big mouth, but they never managed to compile a kernel supporting 3d and sound at the same time, so demos are ruled out.
Mac people are too busy admiring the Apple logo...

I'd rather develop graphics on well tested and accessible os/hardware focusing on what i love to do (draw triangles) in my spare-time ,than to add shitloads of other challenges into the mix. Others seems to think along these lines as well for some obscure reason.

(it's however very cool to see demos on homemade platforms, so feel free to do so!)

People like challenge of the limited platforms and platform specific restrictions. There are hardly any such restrictions in modern consoles, and programming for one is pretty close to programming for a Windows PC anyway, so why bother? Linux on the other hand isn't that widespread and as such it's not preferred by a big majority. Sizecoding for linux is a pain too, when for DOS you need six bytes and three lines of assembly to get access to the framebuffer, on linux you need some 100+ bytes and dozens of lines for that. And it's still more compicated. And relying on an external library(unless you're doing it with X and sacrifice few hundred bytes more). That's why I myself prefer good ol' DOS for sizecoding, it's easy to do from linux(just use nasm + dosemu to run the prod, that's even easier than native linux binary: nasm + ld + ./......).

Though I have to admit that I'd like to see more scene stuff done on e.g. Gp2x, Pandora, RaspberryPi(once it's released) etc. But well, who am I to.. wish.. when I have never ever released anything myself? I guess I'll go make a demo about it. :(

Yes, let's all code our demos in VHDL. Or maybe even bake our own transistors like the C64 FPGA thing girl.

I might buy a RaspberryPi since it's _very_ cheap, fixed hardware, and judging on what I read it might have a big enough comunity unlike GP2X or Pandora.

Hardware development and programming are two very different beasts. I don't have the skills or the tools for the former, nor am I very interested in it either. But there are demos on custom hardware, just look at for example LFT's work, or work by the group Tapir.

2 mights equals a no

Size of potential audience.

Old school computers: because they are closed, limited platforms, and many graphicians, musicians, coders think that constraints are fun to cope with!..

Window$: because you have it, it can access new hardware with kickass power...

Sidenote: It has been years since i last launched a window$ demo, vwatching the youtube instead, while i continue to use emulators (not the same as the real hw, but well, i don't have it anymore) and really cope with the program then.

Then Why not webgl demos? Even Mac users can admire them besides their Apple logo and you have some constraints

Do you think that the hardware acceleration feature have a significant impact on the design of a demo?

On PC... lot's of triangles...
On C64... lot's of rasters...

@digi: are you serious?


In France we have a saying: "one that can do more can do less". hw acceleration expands your abilities, but not everybody will have is mouth gaping wide just because it can draw 10000 poly/shaders more, some people just follow their way and are original. Some of them original men need machines with kickass power, some other are just too happy to cope with cga colors, like Jinn:

@digi: i mean are you serious about constraints? We are not speaking about the same thing! (For me the constraint is to have webGl installed, which is not the case, i don't want the internet in 3d, oh no!)

coding for some non-existant platform (like putting out some vice-version of a "new&better" c64) makes no sense!
thats all i have to say!
wait, maybe: theres enuff platforms to choose from already anyway ;)

(sort of) Oldschool demo on window$: Pimp my spectrum by Ate Bit
(sort of) Newschool demo on c64: Natural Wonders 2 by Oxyron

Better examples anyone?

But, if we define a machine with that kind of specification for example:

Video: a specific color palette, sprites with non-linear deformation attributes...
Sound: basic waveform (like square, sine, triangle, ... with some speicific added waveform like let's say: 1.0f1 0.8f2 0.7 f3 and 0.4f5)...
CPU: with some register with 4096-bit...

I think that kind of specification will lead to demos using non-linear deformation on sprites (because they will be easy to use), have a sound which is recognizable for this platform (because of the specific waveform) and the use of 4096-bit register to computer deeper zoom for fractal and other algorithm...

...

Seriously speaking, if you want to make a virtual environment for yourself to code demos in, go for it! Create your environment and architecture and make a demo for it. A lot of people would probably like the concept and some might even try coding for it if you'd give them tools for it, but for the vast majority of current sceners, their interests probably lie elsewhere.

^thats amiga, dude! amiga has the copperlist ;)
on c64 you need to hack the rasterlines...my first and only attempt yielded like 5-6 NOPs per scanline ;)
( a raster-routine aint too hard, but needs to get understood first...also everyones routy looks diff ;) )

i dont think we need any more platforms or pseudo-platforms! ( no1 has hardware but i can play that demo in an emulator of non-existing hardware? NAAAH! )

I'd like people to watch my demos realtime at home.

Sorry.. I never got my hand on an Amiga... I wanted to have one following the C64.. but I got corrupted by work in the early '90... and end up with money to buy a PC, in order to write some software on it. :'-(

How it was on Amiga? Was it a byte vector table where each byte will refer to a background color for each scan line?

dunno, but i know for sure that the future is hardware independent.. java.. you know

If you're genuinely curious:
http://amigadev.elowar.com/read/ADCD_2.1/Hardware_Manual_guide/node0047.html

It always bugged me that C64 has a much bigger scene than the Amiga. I have the feeling that most Amiga fans (outside the scene I mean) are reminiscing the old times and just play classic games. We had a lot of Amiga fans in Greece (even our own meetings and mag today) but I don't even know a single person who ever coded a demo for it. I met with some people at these meetings and we mostly played Lotus 3, Sensible Soccer and screaming how AMIIIIGGGGAAAA makes it possible. We have more sceners in AtariST and CPC than Amiga :P