Demoscene (eng. Demoscene) - cyberculture, which originated in the late 1970s, along with the spread of the first home computers. This is the direction of computer art, the main feature of which is the construction of a plot video sequence created in real time by a computer, according to the principle of computer games. Thus, the demo is a symbiosis of programming and art.
Etymology
In early synthesizers there was a special button “demo” or “demonstration”, when pressed, the demo song was launched (eng. Demo song). Manufacturers of synthesizers hoped that in the record store buyers would approach the rows of synthesizers sold and choose the one that sounds better and costs less. The buyer, after acquiring and using some experience, understood that he could not achieve the same level of sound. This was explained by the fact that the manufacturer in competition went for some tricks, for example, especially for a demonstration composition, switching between instruments took place at lightning speed, or adding auto-accompaniment over the main melody, or using polyphony effects, etc. As a result, demo-song It sounds bright, rich and impressive.
In essence, this is the original meaning of the demo: to impress the viewer and exaggerate the real capabilities of the device.
The society noticed the scene in its prime - in the early 90s. At that moment there was no definition, therefore, in colloquial speech, the demoscene was referred to as: “computer underground”, “virtual something”, “some kind of hacking”. But, over time, the word “scene” has become stronger, which reflects the nature of the events taking place, since cultural and creative contests are usually attributed to a “scene”.
Story
Home computers of the 1980s made it possible to work with quite complex graphics, more or less high-quality sound, thanks to which the demand for computer games that implement multimedia capabilities increased. The first signs of the birth of the demoscene as an underground culture were implemented in short intro to electronic journals or hacked computer games containing the logo or the nickname of the authors of the intro and squeezing the maximum out of the computer's capabilities, the better and more prestigious the smaller the program.
The Democene appeared in the early 1980s based on the first 8-bit graphic microcomputers ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64, but later spread to newer models, first of all, Amiga and IBM PC.
The classical demoscene was designed to demonstrate the capabilities of a computer and force it to perform unusual (for that period) tasks. For example, the miscalculation of various effects with an exact binding to music in real time was carried out on the Amiga platform before 1990. The most significant demoscene works during its development can be considered the “9 Fingers” of the Spaceballs, Unreal and Second Reality groups of the Future Crew group, as well as a number of other works. Since 1998, three-dimensional graphics and 3D plot works have become the main focus of the demoscene development.
Demopati (Demopaty)
Since the foundations of the demoscene were laid by pirate groups, between which there was competition for high status, the demoscene itself also took over the competitive component, as a result of which demopati began to be organized - events for meeting the creators of the demo, combined with work contests.
The difference between demopati and ordinary art festivals is that works are often completed directly on demopati, and this is part of the process of the event. In addition, the largest demopati usually take several days (most often 3-4) and at the same time they are home to demoscenters from different countries (there are special sleeping places for this, where you can sleep in a sleeping bag).
The demopati program consists of a large number of contests - ranging from music and ending with a demo demonstration. For the first places, the organizers give various prizes (For the Assembly for the first place in the nomination “megademo”, the prize is about 5 thousand euros).
Recently, in the wake of the decrease in the ranks of the demoscenters, the organizers of the demopati, in order to attract visitors, began to organize competitions in computer games, which does not find support in the ranks of the demomesers. Some demopati even moved away from their original roots, turning almost completely into a LAN party.
Information from wikipedia