Seminars

An important part of any "demoparty" is a block of seminars. As far as the festival programme is setting up, we will post here a detailed list of the topics. Stay tuned!

Speakers

  • Oleg Senin (aka bfox): «A new way to AY-music quick play on retro computers based on compressed PSG-dump»
  • Roman Petrov (aka Megus): Why do people create «emulators» for non-existent hardware? what is it and how? PICO-8 demoscene»
  • Sergey Kosov (aka MmcM): «The magic of 8-bit sound»
  • Vladimir Ivanov (VERVE Tech): «Retro consoles: everything you were afraid to ask»
  • Alexander Sharykhin (aka Pinny/Nihirash): «Spectrum and the Internet»
  • Sergey Kostik (aka Raynoa): “Pixel art. New wave »
  • Anastasia Maksimova: «The history of SCB Research Institute «Prometheus» light, sound, electronics and computer experiments»
  • Alexander Kukharenko (aka f0x): «Demotools for 64k intros: principles, architecture, practical use»
  • Denis Grachev (aka rook / sibCrew): "Everything you wanted to know about multicolor on the Spectrum!"
  • Alexander Kolnogorov (aka sq / skrju): «How to make a demo for ZX Spectrum in 3 days: thesuper secret method.»
  • Dmitry Bystrov (aka Alone Coder): «NedoOS: a year of team development»
  • Vadim Akimov (aka LVD): “ZX NET + USB: creation history and device”
  • Anton Nikolaev (aka D-Art) and Ilya Shirinkin (aka Nodeus): How to create a demo for Windows and not die. The Tooll2.io as a visual programming tool

A new way to quickly play AY music on retrocomputers based on compressed psg-dump

bfox
Oleg Senin (aka bfox)

In his lecture, Oleg Senin (St. Petersburg) will give an in-depth presentation of the AY8910 (8912)/YM2149F chip, its features, the opportunities it provides to the chiptune musicians, as well as a new way of packaging and playing compressed audio stream, which (we hope) will become an indispensable tool for modern retro games and demos programming.

The lecture material is designed for both an experienced developer and those who are just starting their acquaintance with retro computers, so do not be afraid of buzzwords - the story will be as accessible as possible 🙂 In just an hour, you will plunge into the magical world of eight-bit sound and find out what hidden possibilities in yourself your good old Dendy, ZX-Spectrum or Apple II. Come, it will be interesting!


Fantasy Consoles: what is it and how? PICO-8 demoscene

megus
Roman Petrov (aka Megus)

Roman Petrov (Yoshkar-Ola) asks a question: Why do people create «emulators» for non-existent hardware? In 2014, Zep/Lexaloffle released the first version of PICO-8 and thus marked the beginning of a series of "fictional consoles". What attracts people to PICO-8, TIC-80 and other «fantasy» consoles? We will try to get to the bottom of this and recreate one of the classic demoscene effects on PICO-8, because PICO-8 also has its own demoscene!


The magic of 8-bit sound

chunky mmcm
Sergey Kosov (aka MmcM)

You will learn how chiptune music was created with limited capabilities of the YM2149F three-channel sound chip, used in many 8-bit computer platforms.

Sergey Kosov (Samara), the creator of many popular chiptune songs, will show his proven skills and will teach you how to fit rich picture of sounds in only three tracks. Sergey will also demonstrate how you can diversify your tunes with different effects.


Retro console: everything you were afraid to ask

Vladimir Ivanov (aka dude_bfg)

Meet Vladimir Ivanov (Voronezh). He does maintenance and restoration of retro equipment, as well as generally implements interesting projects related to retro consoles and computers. His lecture will help you to prevent the "death" of your favorite computer or console. How to maintain the components of retro equipment properly to prevent damage. Together you will identify frequent malfunctions, analyze the correct approach to component’s selection and replacement, and Vladimir will speak about an effective method of bleaching plastic (and its risks!). As a bonus, you will learn how reproductions and custom cartridges for popular consoles are created.


Spectrum and the Internet

Alexander Sharikhin
(aka Pinny / Nihirash)

Alexander Sharikhin (Saint-Petersburg): «In my presentation I will talk about the experience of connecting ZX-Uno to the Internet using UART and ESP-12F. I will show real examples of working applications, tricks of life using ESP8266 and ways to cut corners for many applications. I will talk about the applications portability with this approach and will turn briefly on other options for connecting spectrum-compatible computers to the Internet.»

IRC-client, Gopher-browser, terminal for Plato-systems, FTP-client, and files downloader via http will be presented. 


Pixel art. New wave

Pixeled Raynoa
Sergey Kostik (aka Raynoa)

Sergey Kostik (Tula): «Everything you need to know about pixel art as hobby and as profession based on own experience. Origin, sources of inspiration, game graphics, illustrations, animation.»

Sergey is an Illustrator. He caught pixel «sickness» in the Art Studio (ZX Spectrum), and eventually his hobby turned into professional work. Now Sergey has an extensive portfolio and he cooperates with international agencies, brands, and game design studios.


«The history of SCB Research Institute «Prometheus» light, sound, electronics and computer experiments»

Анастасия Максимова
Anastasia Maksimova

Since the early 1960s SCB Research Institute «Prometheus» have worked in the field of technological and audiovisual art. These experiments, conducted in KAI under the direction of Bulat Galeev (1940-2009), have the full right to be called advanced in the world context. The Prometheus and Galeev's work are frequently mentioned as early examples of media art. For the Soviet cultural environment, they were pioneers in almost all fields: it was there that the first light and music films, complex lighting installations, electronic, video and computer installations have begun to appear.


Demotools for 64k intros: principles, architecture, practical use

f0x
Alexander Kukharenko (aka f0x)

Alexander Kukharenko (Krasnoyarsk) will tell you about how (and why) to write 64k intro and what to do with it afterwards. It will be useful for both programmers and designers or musicians. The focus of attention:

  • development process: how to write a demo if you have a day job, why no one makes it in time, why demoscener needs introspection and reflection.
  • components for sound and graphics synthesis: three functions generation tools, myths and reality with PBR-lighting, code against the design in the context of demosystem.
  • content analysis in terms of compression, synthesis and computational complexity: what the demo should be about.

Everything you wanted to know about the Spectrum multicolor!

rook
Denis Grachev (aka rook / sibCrew)

Denis Grachev (Novosibirsk) is an active spektrumist and the creator of a huge number of games on various retro platforms. He will talk about his favorite theme of multicolor on the ZX Spectrum platform.

A short excursion into the history of the fight against clashing with multicolor (80-s to the present day) awaits you. As well as an overview of how to get a multicolored image, practical tips, tricks and a lot of clear and simple code.


How to make a demo for ZX Spectrum in 3 days: thesuper secret method

sq-skrju
Alexander Kolnogorov (aka sq / skrju)

How often did you visit party empty-handed? Few thing can be compared with that painful feeling when you are watching compos at the big screen thinking "What a pity that i did nothing!"

It's a common delusion that a demo is something very huge, time-consuming and almost unbearable alone. In fact making a demo is much easier than drawing a picture, composing music or making a tiny intro. Alexander Kolnogorov (St. Petersburg) aka sq/skrju (aka lovebeamo/thesuper) knows what he is talking about: for 20 years of demoscene activity he made a dozens of releases, most of which were started a few days before the party. How? Come and find out! 

The seminar is designed mainly for ZX Spectrum people, but may be interesting to all demosceners and sympathizers. In an extreme case, if it's not too informative for you, then we hope it'll be at least funny.


NedoOS: a year of team development

Dmitry Bystrov (aka Alone Coder)

Dmitry Bystrov (Ryazan) will outline the current state of NedoOS, a multi-tasking operating system for Russian ZX Spectrum clones. The project was gathering dust on the shelf for over 10 years, until the team development started. Now it is a rapidly developing system with lots of file and network utilities (including a web browser, IRC, FTP client, Telnet, etc.), large and small games, and a couple of its own programming languages. The authors invite to cooperation.


ZX NET+USB: design and a history of creation

Vadim Akimov (aka LVD)

"ZX NET+USB" is a zxbus-compatible device that opens up new possibilities of network and USB interactions for your Spectrum. You can surf WWW, use IRC, write and read files on an USB stick and even have your Spectrum as an USB device.

In this report, Vadim Akimnov (Moscow) will tell you about the story behind creation of the device, its design and the ways software can interact with it. A little will be said about the software support in NedoOS, existing and planned software products.


How to create a demo for Windows and not die. The Tooll2.io as a visual programming tool

Anton Nikolaev (aka D-Art / Fenomen, Mogilev) and Ilya Shirinkin (aka Nodeus / LFG Perm) will tell you about the visual programming environment - Tooll2.io, designed to create demos for DirectX.

The seminar is suitable for experienced demo makers as well as for beginning designers who wanted to create their own demo for PC, but they are afraid of the excessive complexity of programming for Windows. We will talk about some of the techniques and features of creating 3D scenes and shader effects and much more.


Want to participate?

If you would like to hold a seminar, product demonstration or lecture series, contact us. Themes related to the demoscene and computer art are preferred. However, everything is negotiable.