What got ya in to the scene
category: general [glöplog]
Hm... I was born in 92 so I wasn't able to experience the scene of the 80s or 90s. When I was a child my brother had a 486 or a Pentium (I can't remember, possibly 486) which I got when he himself got a newer computer. I had only around five friends when I was younger, one of them had a Pentium and a PSX, and one of them had an Amiga(I don't remember was it 500 or 1200). So later on when I saw oldschool demos I kind of understood what the power performance of those machines was.
One day in 2004 my brother showed me a 64k, that intro had a 3d hall with some text as a texture, anything else I can't remember about it. He thought I'd be impressed... well to be honest with you, I wasn't. I dunno why, I liked to watch wierd music videos quite a lot back then and I liked electronic music at a young age. I can remember that I did grasp that it was a really tiny program, but I guess a camera moving in some 3d model with text textured walls did not impress me. Later on I saw Tripfish 2 by Kewlers, I can't remember what I thought about it, now days I really like it, nostalgia I guess...
I visited Assembly first time in 2004, I only had a one day ticket and I didn't see any demos. For me it was quite a boring party.
Next party I visited was Assembly in 2006, I still didn't care much about demos because I've seen only two demo productions before that and I thought there weren't more than two demos in the whole world. Ofc I didn't know they showed demos at Assembly. Finally when I saw my first 4k competition at Assembly I was hooked. I really liked all the oldschool demos and 4/64k's intros at Assembly because those were something I sort of was already a bit familiar with. It took a while for me to release anything because I was trying to do a Sharp MZ-800 demo with almost no documentation, no previous experience on machine code, no idea what the hell I was doing. I never was happy with the effects I did, I never was happy with the speed they performed and overall I never was happy with the stuff I coded so I it took awhile for me to release anything. After I wasted more than FOUR YEARS on programming a Sharp MZ-800 demo I went and coded Birthdays Deaths and Compofillers for PC.
I'm STILL planning to release that damn MZ-800 demo one day!!
One day in 2004 my brother showed me a 64k, that intro had a 3d hall with some text as a texture, anything else I can't remember about it. He thought I'd be impressed... well to be honest with you, I wasn't. I dunno why, I liked to watch wierd music videos quite a lot back then and I liked electronic music at a young age. I can remember that I did grasp that it was a really tiny program, but I guess a camera moving in some 3d model with text textured walls did not impress me. Later on I saw Tripfish 2 by Kewlers, I can't remember what I thought about it, now days I really like it, nostalgia I guess...
I visited Assembly first time in 2004, I only had a one day ticket and I didn't see any demos. For me it was quite a boring party.
Next party I visited was Assembly in 2006, I still didn't care much about demos because I've seen only two demo productions before that and I thought there weren't more than two demos in the whole world. Ofc I didn't know they showed demos at Assembly. Finally when I saw my first 4k competition at Assembly I was hooked. I really liked all the oldschool demos and 4/64k's intros at Assembly because those were something I sort of was already a bit familiar with. It took a while for me to release anything because I was trying to do a Sharp MZ-800 demo with almost no documentation, no previous experience on machine code, no idea what the hell I was doing. I never was happy with the effects I did, I never was happy with the speed they performed and overall I never was happy with the stuff I coded so I it took awhile for me to release anything. After I wasted more than FOUR YEARS on programming a Sharp MZ-800 demo I went and coded Birthdays Deaths and Compofillers for PC.
I'm STILL planning to release that damn MZ-800 demo one day!!
excellent thread.
And I've told this story already, but I can thank Dr Claw, who showed me the first demo I ever saw, BB http://pouet.net/prod.php?which=17468 in 2003. Later that year he showed me old DOS demos from his BBSing days (I never got to BBS), starting with Second Reality. In 2008 we went to Assembly, then Blockparty in 2009. Then, having been embolded by all my work on scifi cons, I ran @party 2010, and properly entered the scene. Each edition has been an improvement, operationally speaking ( ;<
I entered my first proper graphic (had entered two compos before at other parties, under pseudonyms, sometimes as compofiller) at Revision 2013. In terms of pre-scene, I started doing pixel graphics on my IIGS in 198, both in Paintworks Plus and making ornate projects in HyperStudio. Studied piano for 11 years. Learned HTML in high school as well as the beginnings of modern graphics software (used various versions of Painter voluminously for years and have giant swathes of crap from that as well as non-computer art classes I took). And in college I discovered ResEdit and started to wonder how programs went together, experimented by taking them apart, messing with the graphics. Found lots of cool stuff that inspired me on the web. Nobody ever told me about programming, or encouraged me to think I could do it. Almost took a class in C in college, but was dissuaded on the grounds it might damage my GPA.
I entered my first proper graphic (had entered two compos before at other parties, under pseudonyms, sometimes as compofiller) at Revision 2013. In terms of pre-scene, I started doing pixel graphics on my IIGS in 198, both in Paintworks Plus and making ornate projects in HyperStudio. Studied piano for 11 years. Learned HTML in high school as well as the beginnings of modern graphics software (used various versions of Painter voluminously for years and have giant swathes of crap from that as well as non-computer art classes I took). And in college I discovered ResEdit and started to wonder how programs went together, experimented by taking them apart, messing with the graphics. Found lots of cool stuff that inspired me on the web. Nobody ever told me about programming, or encouraged me to think I could do it. Almost took a class in C in college, but was dissuaded on the grounds it might damage my GPA.
Quote:
Almost took a class in C in college, but was dissuaded on the grounds it might damage my GPA.
Oh...
@branch: you should talk to marq/fit, he's the resident Sharp 8-bit expert.
And for the topic:
I was aware of crack intros from early childhood in the 90s, but only after downloading ISI and Final ISI by PWP from MBNet really expanded my thinking about the artistic possibilities of computers. I was always attracted to creative software, such as trackers, paint programs, video editors and game making software.
I was aware of Assembly from the late 90s on, but my parents didn't allow me to visit by myself, and not knowing any people interested in that sort of thing, it took me until 2003 to visit Assembly the first time when I turned 18, with some people I'd met at local lan parties (who later became members of Trilobit).
After Assembly, there was no turning back from being a digital art, even though it took me many years to mature as an artist by trial and error.
I was aware of crack intros from early childhood in the 90s, but only after downloading ISI and Final ISI by PWP from MBNet really expanded my thinking about the artistic possibilities of computers. I was always attracted to creative software, such as trackers, paint programs, video editors and game making software.
I was aware of Assembly from the late 90s on, but my parents didn't allow me to visit by myself, and not knowing any people interested in that sort of thing, it took me until 2003 to visit Assembly the first time when I turned 18, with some people I'd met at local lan parties (who later became members of Trilobit).
After Assembly, there was no turning back from being a digital art, even though it took me many years to mature as an artist by trial and error.
We have been in talks about Sharp matters already :) MZ-800 is a lot more complicated and powerful machine when compared to the MZ-700, which is basically based on the 1970s design.
As to demos... I started getting them from some friends when we swapped games and other software in the early 1990s. Apparently there were some, a bit older Amiga sceners in the small town where I'm from, but I happened to have a PC. Me and a couple of school mates formed a group in 1991 mostly based on what we had seen in those early demos and their scroll texts. At that point none of us had any idea as to how code effects, display images or play music - having some more experienced mentor would have saved us a year or two. I had seen crack intros in the 1980s, but never considered them too interesting: they were more like an extra nuisance you wanted to skip as quick as possible to get to the game itself.
As to demos... I started getting them from some friends when we swapped games and other software in the early 1990s. Apparently there were some, a bit older Amiga sceners in the small town where I'm from, but I happened to have a PC. Me and a couple of school mates formed a group in 1991 mostly based on what we had seen in those early demos and their scroll texts. At that point none of us had any idea as to how code effects, display images or play music - having some more experienced mentor would have saved us a year or two. I had seen crack intros in the 1980s, but never considered them too interesting: they were more like an extra nuisance you wanted to skip as quick as possible to get to the game itself.
@branch, @Marq: I would love to introduce both of you to DamageX, who attended @party last year and is very interested in Sharps as well, specifically the X68000. If you're interested, drop me a line at questions atsymbol atparty-demoscene dot net.
X68000 is a heavy-duty machine compared to those puny 8-bits... Would probably get myself one if my apartment wasn't already full of all sorts of retro gear, though.
I come from the tracking-scene, started doing modules as a hobby using ModPlug Tracker, hung around sites like modplug central, ctgmusic.com and traxinspace. Having read some module comments (collaboration for a party, entry to a compo, etc...) and talking to the community, I remotely was hinted to something called the demoscene. So on 2006 I suddenly decided to google where the next demoparty was, and that's where I rumbled on the jungle, I visited breakpoint 06. Loved it ever since!
...and I could have shoot myself in the head, because I was already living 20 minutes away from bingen since 2003. Why isn't there more outreach?!
I was born in 1981 in USSR. In 80s, I used to read "Nauka i Zhizn" which printed some routines for a programmable calculator (which I hadn't). My father made me a Radio-86RK (8080 handmade computer) around 1989. I wrote some crap in BASIC (usually with PRINT). BASIC books of that days were full of such "demos" :)
In 1991, my father made me a Pentagon 48K (ZX Spectrum clone). Father's friend had IBM PC and he shown me WAV music player (that impressed me, I first thought it was a tape) and a 3D animation. I saw the first "real" demos (i.e. with music and design) around 1994, on Pentagon 128K at a friend of mine.
I wrote utilities for a long time, only two of them were released then at local parties - one in 1992 (sent it via mail and had no answer) and another in 1996 (visited the party myself). 1996 party was the last one, and when I've finished my first real game, I couldn't release it. I wrote "effects" too (and a 3-effects demo without music) but didn't release them. I could only show it to my friends, because I had no external contacts. But my old friends were no more interested in ZX Spectrum scene.
In 1997 I've got Pentagon 128K and found new friends with Spectrums at college and radioamateur market. They've shown me e-zines, and in 1998 I made my first e-zine and started snail mailing (and slow FIDO mailing via friends). Then in 1999 I've soldered AY music in my computer and started to write music.
My parents bought me a PC later in 1999 but I never used it for demos, only for college homeworks. I was still writing utilities, music, gfx, e-zines and games for ZX Spectrum.
In 2001 I first participated in a "big" party (Chaos Constructions). Virtually. I've sent them my gfx and music. My first real "big" party was ParaDIGmus 2003 where I shown my first "real" demo (with only one "effect" though) and met NedoPC and mayHem.
Our local scene has died around 2005 not only at ZX Spectrum but on all platforms. But I'm still working with NedoPC and mayHem.
In 1991, my father made me a Pentagon 48K (ZX Spectrum clone). Father's friend had IBM PC and he shown me WAV music player (that impressed me, I first thought it was a tape) and a 3D animation. I saw the first "real" demos (i.e. with music and design) around 1994, on Pentagon 128K at a friend of mine.
I wrote utilities for a long time, only two of them were released then at local parties - one in 1992 (sent it via mail and had no answer) and another in 1996 (visited the party myself). 1996 party was the last one, and when I've finished my first real game, I couldn't release it. I wrote "effects" too (and a 3-effects demo without music) but didn't release them. I could only show it to my friends, because I had no external contacts. But my old friends were no more interested in ZX Spectrum scene.
In 1997 I've got Pentagon 128K and found new friends with Spectrums at college and radioamateur market. They've shown me e-zines, and in 1998 I made my first e-zine and started snail mailing (and slow FIDO mailing via friends). Then in 1999 I've soldered AY music in my computer and started to write music.
My parents bought me a PC later in 1999 but I never used it for demos, only for college homeworks. I was still writing utilities, music, gfx, e-zines and games for ZX Spectrum.
In 2001 I first participated in a "big" party (Chaos Constructions). Virtually. I've sent them my gfx and music. My first real "big" party was ParaDIGmus 2003 where I shown my first "real" demo (with only one "effect" though) and met NedoPC and mayHem.
Our local scene has died around 2005 not only at ZX Spectrum but on all platforms. But I'm still working with NedoPC and mayHem.
As usual I start to write and type too much... :) so my story ended up on Commodore Is Awesome.
I saw this cool pixeled logo by farfar on pouet and figured I just *had* to join.
i grew up with homecomputers (c64 and later atari ste) and eventually landed on the pc.
i learned to know the "scene" as underground society having mostly to do with cracking software and spreading it. when the bbs days were about in the mid 90s i had a little contact with members of the so called art scene, but all i took from that is that sceners are elitist and arrogant bastards.
with the internet and fr-08 making a fuzz on irc in 2001 i got aware of the demoscene as an independent subculture and that its not about doing crack intros anymore (most of the time, at least ;).
also to my surprise i learned that the demoscene is a lot more open and friendly then my previous encounters with warez and art sceners, but a cold wave of elitism can still be felt here and there (and its not helping).
as im not doing any code, music or gfx im of course a bit on the outside, but i do believe the demoscene has a place for people like me as well: be it as party organizer, party visitor, deliverer of feedback or purely just as audience.
i learned to know the "scene" as underground society having mostly to do with cracking software and spreading it. when the bbs days were about in the mid 90s i had a little contact with members of the so called art scene, but all i took from that is that sceners are elitist and arrogant bastards.
with the internet and fr-08 making a fuzz on irc in 2001 i got aware of the demoscene as an independent subculture and that its not about doing crack intros anymore (most of the time, at least ;).
also to my surprise i learned that the demoscene is a lot more open and friendly then my previous encounters with warez and art sceners, but a cold wave of elitism can still be felt here and there (and its not helping).
as im not doing any code, music or gfx im of course a bit on the outside, but i do believe the demoscene has a place for people like me as well: be it as party organizer, party visitor, deliverer of feedback or purely just as audience.
wysiwtf: no reason you can't learn and volunteer at parties. Bless you if you volunteer at parties. People are often needed for infodesks. And I am very thankful for my volunteers!
Piracy
Ahh, my scene story goes way back. I'm not quite old enough to remember the 80s/90s scene, but I'm one of the few who can say I've been a retro gamer since I was a kid. When I was 9, I discovered a Win95 shareware disc that must have been collecting dust for years before I decided to pop it in and see what the hell it was. It was then that I fell in love with Win95-era games and graphics. I fell in love with one game in particular, Deadly Rooms of Death, which led me to seek out more oldies by the developer, Webfoot, and that's how I discovered my love for DOS games from Doom to Flashback to ZZT.
What does any of this have to do with the scene, you might ask? Well, it was while I was looking for Webfoot's old games that I discovered the awesome story behind Forbidden Forest 3. Yes, this game was crap (just like everything Webfoot game has done since '97) but it was still a pretty cool story... so cool, in fact, that I scoured the internet looking for a Forbidden Forest download and a C64 emulator. I installed the trial version of C64 Forever, but as it turned out, you couldn't even load Forbidden Forest with the trial version. By the time I found that out, though, I didn't even care anymore. Why? Because I'd already lost countless hours of sleep watching C64 Forever's oldskool demo collection into the wee hours of the night. ;)
What does any of this have to do with the scene, you might ask? Well, it was while I was looking for Webfoot's old games that I discovered the awesome story behind Forbidden Forest 3. Yes, this game was crap (just like everything Webfoot game has done since '97) but it was still a pretty cool story... so cool, in fact, that I scoured the internet looking for a Forbidden Forest download and a C64 emulator. I installed the trial version of C64 Forever, but as it turned out, you couldn't even load Forbidden Forest with the trial version. By the time I found that out, though, I didn't even care anymore. Why? Because I'd already lost countless hours of sleep watching C64 Forever's oldskool demo collection into the wee hours of the night. ;)
Short: Some 3.5" floppies with a copy of borland pascal 7.0 and some intros in asm. Did not understand that fucking code :D
Long: I forgot all that for over a decade. Later I just consumed intros and demos until I started programming again because I always enjoyed it - and because I quit having a job at a fucking desk.
Long: I forgot all that for over a decade. Later I just consumed intros and demos until I started programming again because I always enjoyed it - and because I quit having a job at a fucking desk.
I got c64 in 1984. After playing games for a year I noticed those nice intros. But it all started when I got 1541 in 1986. I met some cool local guys who had formed a demo group (Z-Circle) and they introduced me to scene (it was quite small that time in Finland). We kept swapping demos and next year I was introduced to Hazor. Late 1987 happened two big things in my scene time: I published my first demo and attended the first ever demo party in Finland. Next year Beyond Force was founded and we had several great years with scene activities.
I seem to recall a lot of fragments that all hinted that there was this "something" going on, which I didn't really know about.
Like the cracktros on my Amstrad CPC464 back in the 80s, or the ones on my cousin's C64.
Later there were Amiga floppy discs that I borrowed from a school mate, labeled ST-00, ST-01, etc.. They contained sounds that I didn't know what to do with.
Some of the first demos I watched were Budbrain's "Megademo", "Interference" by Sanity and "3D Demo" by Anarchy. A VHS tape of Desert Dream got watched so many times that you could hardly make out the first 30 seconds, it was so used. Good thing when I got that on floppy. I didn't understand what these things were exactly, but I knew that I liked them.
Met up with booster, ody, fuglen completely by random chance on an #amiga channel on IRC in '95. Made up some bullshit about drawing on my amiga, and went to see them in their hometown. We became friends. Later I started pixeling and tracking.
My first party was The Party in '96, which was quite late.. but it was oh so good. Basically I never looked back from then on.
Like the cracktros on my Amstrad CPC464 back in the 80s, or the ones on my cousin's C64.
Later there were Amiga floppy discs that I borrowed from a school mate, labeled ST-00, ST-01, etc.. They contained sounds that I didn't know what to do with.
Some of the first demos I watched were Budbrain's "Megademo", "Interference" by Sanity and "3D Demo" by Anarchy. A VHS tape of Desert Dream got watched so many times that you could hardly make out the first 30 seconds, it was so used. Good thing when I got that on floppy. I didn't understand what these things were exactly, but I knew that I liked them.
Met up with booster, ody, fuglen completely by random chance on an #amiga channel on IRC in '95. Made up some bullshit about drawing on my amiga, and went to see them in their hometown. We became friends. Later I started pixeling and tracking.
My first party was The Party in '96, which was quite late.. but it was oh so good. Basically I never looked back from then on.
