What was the demoscene ?

[chip]

Since i'm collecting amiga demoscene stuff, it seems correct to me to know "what" i'm collecting

I never knew the demoscene, never seen a demo when i owned the real thing back in the 1995

So, only nowadays i'm aware of cracktros / demos / megademos / musicdisks and so on

But what actually was the demoscene ?

Parties ?

Crackers group ?

Fun ?

[Z3k]

I think every one of us has a very personal answer to your question.
If you ask me, in no particular order; reading diskmags, dialing BBSs, warping the warez, figure out what "stamps back" means, get to know very talented people everyone-else whould define weirdos, collecting the disks not for the game but the craktro, get greeted in some mods or intros, visiting parties(ce ne sono stati anche in Italia, sai?), contributing to some scene releases, release something at a party, hanging on IRC very late at night, offer a beer or just say hello to someone you know only the scene handle.
Maybe i still missed something...

[demolition]

It was basically everybody who contributed to making demos in some way or another. Intros/cracktros/demos all qualify as demos in my book. And yes, I think most of them did it for fun, and for the challenge. I have a hard time seeing anyone making it their main source of income, although some of them used their coding experience to make a career in software.

You could also argue that those who just liked to watch the demos (like myself) could also be considered a part since they probably wouldn't create them in the first place if there was nobody to watch them.

[Foebane]

What do you mean, "was"? The Demoscene is still going intensely strong to this day, even the Amiga part of it!

I first saw demos in this sense in photographs in Atari 8-Bit magazines and loved the colours and everything, but I never saw any demos in action on that platform. Then, after I got my Amiga 500, I was looking for some free software to run on it, and my local computer shop had a box of such stuff, and as it turned out, it was Demoscene. I loved what I saw unfolding on my A500 screen and so I sought out most stuff, and I have probably spent many more hours watching demos and creating stuff than playing games (the games I mostly left to the Atari STFM I got between the A8 and the A500).

So yeah, I think the Amiga is only average when it comes to games, but it excels at the Demoscene, and thus I chose the latter for my Amiga activities. And when I got my A1200 and I saw AGA goodness, I was in heaven!

LONG LIVE THE DEMOSCENE!

[britelite]

Originally Posted by demolition

You could also argue that those who just liked to watch the demos (like myself) could also be considered a part since they probably wouldn't create them in the first place if there was nobody to watch them.

I have to disagree with you here, if the only thing someone does is download demos and watch them they're just consumers, and not a part of the scene. To be a part of the demoscene you have to be contributing at least in some way, if nothing else by keeping in contact with other sceners by, for example, attending demoparties.

And to address your last statement, demos aren't really made for consumers to consume, they're specifically done for the demoscene. So they most certainly have an audience, even without random people from outside of the scene watching them.

[demolition]

Originally Posted by britelite

I have to disagree with you here, if the only thing someone does is download demos and watch them they're just consumers, and not a part of the scene. To be a part of the demoscene you have to be contributing at least in some way, if nothing else by keeping in contact with other sceners by, for example, attending demoparties.

Well, I was mainly thinking about people who attended demo parties and watched the productions on the big screen there, but without actually competing themselves, either due to lack of time or skills.

[britelite]

Originally Posted by demolition

Well, I was mainly thinking about people who attended demo parties and watched the productions on the big screen there, but without actually competing themselves, either due to lack of time or skills.

Yeah, that's a whole different matter. Any scene is a social thing, so if you're partaking in a social capacity then you're a part of a scene

[Foebane]

Originally Posted by britelite

if the only thing someone does is download demos and watch them they're just consumers, and not a part of the scene. To be a part of the demoscene you have to be contributing at least in some way, if nothing else by keeping in contact with other sceners by, for example, attending demoparties.

So I'm just a consumer?

I'd like to go to a demoparty at least once, but they're spread all over Europe. I've considered Budleigh Salterton in the UK, but I don't know if I'd be too anxious to attend such a social event.

[chip]

What's the problem to be only a consumer ?

It's not a wrong thing

Like i can listen to the music without to be a musician i can watch demos without to be a coder

[britelite]

Originally Posted by chip

What's the problem to be only a consumer ?

It's not a wrong thing

Like i can listen to the music without to be a musician i can watch demos without to be a coder

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with being a consumer, just that you're not necessarily a part of the demoscene in that case.

[chip]

I agree britelite .... i'm not part of the demoscene

[britelite]

Originally Posted by Foebane

So I'm just a consumer?

I'd say yes, but at least you're also a part of the Pouetscene

[Hewitson]

And a part of the making things a million times more complicated than they need to be scene

Meant in the nicest possible way of course.

[jarre]

if you where below say something like the age of 15, back in 1985, you haven't feel the vibe, competition and winners mentality of the first generation into the amiga scene...the party's, bbs world, swapping, cracking...and drinking.........making the amiga a part of your social life...

[Foebane]

Originally Posted by Hewitson

And a part of the making things a million times more complicated than they need to be scene

Do you mean my obsession with what to name the downloaded files? Oh, I'm not going to post about that anymore: I've settled on a simple system that should do away with the questions I've asked in the past.

[Jope]

Originally Posted by jarre

if you where below say something like the age of 15, back in 1985, you haven't feel the vibe, competition and winners mentality of the first generation into the amiga scene...the party's, bbs world, swapping, cracking...and drinking.........making the amiga a part of your social life...

Those of us who were teens in the 90s got in on some of that action too. The parties, the BBSes, the swapping, the modem trading, the Amiga as the center of your social life.. ;-)

Of course being a few years too young back then meant I couldn't participate as fully as I'd have wanted to. It got better for me towards the end of the 90s, but of course the scene was also different by then. Less competitive.

[kriz]

Demo scene IS still alive !!! Making productions and attending demo parties still in 2018 !!

[Nibbler]

Here is a great Doku about that ... skip to 1h 29min (timestamp wont work)

[ Show youtube player ]

(my favorite part of that doku XD .. its a little high pitched and faster in the "youtube version" but i guess its good enough


Long live the DemoScene

[demolition]

If you replace 'demo scene' with 'music scene' I guess most people would not consider you a part of the music scene if you didn't play or create music, but merely attended concerts.
And yes, the Amiga demo scene is alive today, but not nearly as alive as the C64 scene which has gained a massive comback.

[britelite]

Originally Posted by demolition

If you replace 'demo scene' with 'music scene' I guess most people would not consider you a part of the music scene if you didn't play or create music, but merely attended concerts.

Well, I personally think someone who goes to a lot of local gigs and socializes there is part of the local music scene, in contrast to someone who just stays at home listening to records.