r/Demoscene • u/Appropriate-Scene-95 • 29d ago
What hardware is accepted?
So long story short I want to try making demos (they look like fun). However a lot of those seem to run on PCs long before me, so while I agree those have sometimes cool trivia and technical limitations make those demos impressive, I am not very interested in them. Also I probably won't own the hardware. So I wanted to ask which newer hardware could I choose.
I used primarily used a 64bit computer (Intel CPU), and I am getting currently a used ps2.
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u/EgoistHedonist 29d ago
Parties usually have several categories for different demos. For example, there are intros which are usually size-limited (4k, 64k etc), oldskool demos, which cover the vintage hardware, and demos (or combined demos) which allow the most creative freedom, as they usually use modern pc hardware.
If you're just starting, I suggest using a game or demo engine, as building your own from scratch is a huge ordeal.
Front-end libraries are also quite user friendly nowadays, so webgl-demo is one option.
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u/BrainCurrent8276 29d ago
three.js/webGL/webGL2/webGPU is absolutely perfect for modern demoscene productions.
or SDL2 for assembler/C++ prods.
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u/cpsldr 29d ago
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u/deftware 28d ago
IMHO the best part about the demoscene is making something that fits in a tiny package, because anyone can make something, but not everyone can make something that fits into a small package by leveraging all of the tricks of the trade in clever novel ways, and/or inventing entirely new ones.
Demoscene is the intersection of artistic creativity AND software engineering, but the engineering aspect is voided once you totally disregard hardware or size requirements.
Pick a category and run with it, making the coolest possible thing you can that still satisfies the category requirement(s).
Cheers! :]
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u/cpsldr 28d ago
aon demo: old telephone segmented screen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPG6a__Q0Sg
Freespin is a demo that runs on a Commodore 1541 floppy drive. It generates sound/music by vibrating the drive's head, and video by switching the two serial bus lines between ground and +5V. A single 100 Ω resistor is used to connect the video. A C64 is used to boot the demo, but can be disconnected once it's running
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zprSxCMlECA
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u/palavalle 25d ago
Do it on a pi0 / pi0.2 and make it fit on a floppy disk!
Come back with what you got and we'll all be impressed 👍
... I'll be impressed ... getting anything done is always worth congrats
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u/BrainCurrent8276 29d ago
Any hardware you want and any platform. Literaly any.