Our Amiga Demo-Creator Turns 36 Years
coding-and-computers.blogspot.com
coding-and-computers.blogspot.com
Waiting for the post delivery, hoping that day was the day the next package arrived. Clicking the 3.5” disk in and feeling my pulse quicken.
Then the day I got hold of the RSI Demo Maker I knew I wanted to be a programmer when I grew up.
(47 years old now, a programmer but still haven’t grown up)
And example of a demo made in it: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0SI41uFqJpQ
And I couldn't agree more - that era was such a carefree and imaginative period for many of us, filled with endless possibilities. As I approach 55 this year, I fondly look back on my programming journey that began in the early 80s. And like you, I too have never really grown up – always eager to explore, learn new things, and continue dreaming.
I believe maintaining this youthful mindset and spirit is essential for staying vibrant and engaged in life. Cheers to never growing up!
And ads in physical newspapers to exchange demos and games! I've got amazing memories of the C64 era and then the switch to the Atari ST / Amiga one.
With my best friend we'd hop on our BMX 2000 bicycles and drive all across town (and sometimes even for two hours outside town) to go meet our "contacts" and spent countless time copying disks. And then we'd cycle all the way back and be amazed at the new intros (they weren't called "cracktro" yet IIRC) and demos we had fetched.
And, just like you, I had to know how to code the same. So it was on to assembly to manipulate the blitter and the copper: those "copper bars" were just way too cool!
P.S: I cannot thank enough my mom who, like many parents, somehow understood that it was the future and bought us those expensive toys (it was sizeable expenses for her).
Nostalgia is a powerful drug and I’m loathe to say anything is the best because it’s all so subjective, but for me personally those years in the mid-90s where computing was just a big open greenfield for new ideas was amazing.
I was 16, modding Renegade and drawing ANSI for my BBS and toodling around in ImpulseTracker trying to be Purple Motion and learning HTML for this new thing called the web and it was all just perfect.
The "would be used by quite a few groups to kick-start their Amiga demo-game, including the legendary Fairlight." part is IMHO telling: such a generator is not enough to produce truly outstanding work, but it is an on-ramp into the scene. Demos are usually made great by code and art.