Ask HN: Anyone in the Demoscene?

I used to dabble in it years ago. Here's a sample in text mode in C on MS-DOS, which is more a variety of techniques and examples strung together:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALy9TugTmmA

I got into it originally because when I was learning how to program, I found a bunch of tutorials, open source programs, and small games on places like Programmers Haven (which used to serve text files, source, and programs, but has since renamed to Programmers Heaven and is just a generic message board now).

Being able to type in some relatively simple code and produce a complicated-looking visual effect is highly appealing and lends to the sense of wonder. It pushes the limits of the computer and the imagination and is a gateway into learning more to see what else the computer is capable of doing.

While I never got into anything like game development from it, the demoscene has taught me that the most obvious approach might not be the only one, or even the right one for what you're trying to do. The more techniques you know, the more you can apply, and that you can often reframe a problem to hit it with another more effective technique if your current attempts aren't quite good enough.

Not in the demoscene per se, but I used to be part of the music scene. I was the creator of Nashmeja, a tiny internet label that was into IDM[1].

I also created Traxer (later called Traxernews) which was a music release news website. It was my very first attempt at making a website, and it eventually led to me being a full time freelance developer.

I still plan on making music again some day, but between work, having a kid, and video games, I just don't take the time anymore.

[1] https://files.scene.org/browse/music/groups/nashmeja/

A word of caution to fans, there's still value in actually getting the demos and running them instead of just watching a video capture. Services like YouTube compress their video streams, robbing many demos of their fidelity.

This guy posts about demoscene, maybe you find some community there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufXg3sB3qak

I've been thinking about going to a demoparty (Function) but none of my nerdier friends who'd appreciate the skills on display are fond of socializing unless necessary. :/

Shout out to KFMF, some of my earliest exposure to electronic music

Nah, but browsing pouet.net is fun from time to time. I think I kinda got into it seeing some game dev from xra_ on Twitch for Memory of a Broken Dimension.

I think the modern rendition of demoscene has transitioned into the generative tagline.