MindCandy Volume 1: PC Demos

what is the demoscene?

The computer demo scene consists of programmers, artists, musicians and enthusiasts who enjoy creating and/or being entertained by computer graphics-and-sound demonstration programs. These "demos", as they are called, are much like music videos for the computer and are often created by people in their late teens to early twenties. Many of them move on to careers in the computer/video game industry, or professional electronic art and music composition.

demoparties

Every so often, demo creators and fans alike get together for a few days, inside places ranging from school gymnasiums to sports arenas. They compete head-to-head with new demo, music, and art creations, exchange ideas, and most importantly, they have fun! These are but a few of the many popular hotspots for demosceners.

The Gathering (Norway, Easter weekend) - Held inside a hall built for Olympic speed skating in 1994, with a roof constructed out of a giant viking ship! The Gathering has a reputation of being the largest LAN party in Norway, but many veteran Norsk sceners who were there when it started a decade ago still come back.
Breakpoint (Germany, Easter weekend) - Held at a large abandoned military depot, this new party is a replacement for the legendary but now-defunct Mekka & Symposium party. It attracts visitors from many countries with many computer platforms, even old 8-bit machines like the C64! The party has a social atmosphere and tries to keep out pure gamers.
Symphony (Poland, early July) - This event is only three years old, but it's expected to take off as one of the largest in eastern Europe. The antics of Madwizards, the organizers, at Breakpoint 2003 should give an idea of the gung-ho spirit Symphony will have! Like Breakpoint, they invite foreigners and many platforms.
Scene Event (Denmark, July) - Formerly known as "Summer Encounter", this Danish party is more known for its outdoor activities (tent cities, bbq) than indoor.. a Woodstock for computer geeks, if you will! Of course, it still has all the usual demo competitions.
Assembly (Finland, early August) - One of the oldest demoparties will run its twelfth year in 2003, and some of the organizers have been there since the beginning. It's been known to attract some of the finest talent in the demoscene, and these days it attracts some of the finest company sponsors as well. Add seminars, live concerts and their own net-broadcasting TV station, and you have one of the most popular youth culture events in Finland today.
Evoke (Germany, late August) - Summer ends with this small gathering in western Germany for the PC. They aim to provide a different experience than other demo parties, with a zoo theme and location at a historic fort and park.

demoscene links

There's plenty of sites out there for demo addicts. For this volume, we'll focus on PC-oriented sites, though you'll be sure to find stuff on some other platforms as well.

	Demos - The Story So Far - New to the scene? This will be a good read, and there are some pics and screenshots to look at too.
	The PC Demoscene FAQ - Tomaes's excellent revival of the Frequently Asked Questions text file.
	Scene.org - The largest Internet file repository for demos. FTP is available too, naturally.
	Orange Juice - This is a great site to find demosceners and parties on, and is always updated with the latest news.
	Pouet - A fully user-maintained site, with a huge database of demos and reviews.
	Two-Headed Squirrel - A very unique demo review site, interesting to read.
	Monostep (This is a demo) - Want to quickly grab some of the best and latest demos? This site has some good suggestions.
	Nectarine - Features streaming radio of demoscene "oldies" (computer MOD music and 8-bit compositions!) - a companion site to Orange Juice.
	GFXZone - For those interested in "pixeled" demoscene art, this site provides countless hours of gallery viewing.
	No Error - All the latest demoscene music news - trackers, sequencers, CD projects, and more.
	Demoscene Outreach Group - A group of people aiming to get demos more public exposure, through venues like SIGGRAPH and E3.
	Freax - Another ambitious demo scene chronicle project - a giant BOOK (yes, the printed kind)