For the past 5-6 years, I’ve had
occasion to peek into the little-known computer subculture called “demoscene”.
I’ve seen their work, I’ve been to their events, and I’ve talked to some people
who drive this culture. In this post, I’m going to share my view and what I’ve
learned in this culture.
How I discovered demoscene
I should first clarify that I am not a
computer enthusiast: I do use computers a lot for my work and for fun, but my
job and interests have been about juggling natural language and not computer
language. I’ll be ecstatic when I see beautiful combination of words, but I’ve
been trying to stay away from lines of numbers because they look complicated. I
can’t code, I can’t make music and I can’t draw anything properly – Basically
I’m a complete outsider to this culture.
First time I ran into the word
“demoscene” was a bit over 10 years ago. I discovered this culture through
online articles and mail magazines published back in 90s, the time considered
to be the golden era of demoscene. The articles covered its event which was packed
with teenage computer enthusiast, and their weekly mail magazine shared their
production diary, tutorials, event reports… In short, their youthful days
devoted to computer programming were encapsulated in these documents.
I read on thinking “Who are these
people?” These people were spending almost all their waking hours for
programming, and I just couldn’t understand why they were so obsessive about
it. To be honest, my initial thought was that they’re just crazy or “oh, so
that’s what people call ‘nerd’ ?” But their articles were interesting to read
and the fact that they all somehow sounded like they were having the time of
their lives was intriguing, so I slowly started to explore this culture.
Looking back, what interested me first
was not the demos or culture itself but these strange people called
“demosceners”.
How I started to do interviews
I said “exploring” but it was more
like a casual googling whenever I recalled it or heard about a topic related to
computer programming. For years on and off I’d read some documents around the
culture and watched some demos on YouTube, computer or DOS emulator, but I felt
this culture was protected by jargons and 90s style website (they scare me with
browser warnings – because it contained exe file, now I know) and I really
couldn’t get a whole picture.
Then one day, while I was doing one of
those casual surfing, I found a documentary called “Moleman 2 – Demoscene – The Art of the Algorithms”. This was made for viewers with no knowledge of this
culture, thus it contains all the basic information you need to know before
tapping into this world. I watched it and thought it’s great, and wished if I
could have watched something like this when I first heard about demoscene.
Since they’re looking for scripts in multiple languages, I decided to give
Japanese subtitle thinking this might help someone like me. And once it came
out, I got some feedback from Japanese demosceners via Twitter. I asked one of
them if I could send a few questions, and the interview series started.
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| Editing the interview... |
Appeal of demoscene to outsider’s eyes
Apparently, the strongest appeal of
this culture is an artwork called “demo”. Demo is an execution file, and you
can experience real-time generated visuals and audios by running it on your
computer. Demos are created using loads of different and advanced technologies…
but the great thing about this demo is that you can enjoy it without technical
knowledge. You don’t need to know what GPU stands for or what Ray tracing means
and, not sure what creators would think but, you don’t even need to download
the file and run it on your computer – you can just watch it on YouTube. (In
fact, it looks better and smoother that way if your computer is for basic
tasks.)
Sure, some demos are very technical
looking, but you can enjoy most of them like you enjoy music videos or short
clips of arts and design. Their often abstract and meticulously created visuals
are entertaining and inspirational and it can help you to see or imagine things
from different angle, just like contemporary arts do. And if you live far away
from the computer graphics field, you will find some very unexpected.
Not just visuals, but the music used
in demos are equally appealing. Most of them were originally made only for this
purpose, so you can enjoy the matching mood with sound. And you’ll be surprised
by their quality and a wide variety of genre. There are vocals, hip-hop, jazz,
samba, pianos… but if I can share my very personal impression… if your favorite
music falls between LFO and Squarepusher and you don’t know demoscene, you’re
missing quite a lot.
And there’s another thing which seems
like an appeal of demoscene to outsiders. And that’s people involved in this
culture – in other words “demosceners”. You can learn so many things from their
approach and way of thinking, especially if you consider yourself a person
which has nothing to do with this subculture.
So, what did I learn?
So here I’m going to share with you
what I’ve learned about demosceners through interviewing them, talking to them
and visiting demoparties.
In honor of the great host of our
time, I’d like to present this in David
Letterman’s top 10 list’s way.
10
things I’ve learned about Demosceners
10. “Demoscener” is an earned title.
Demoscene is open closed community;
it’s open because anyone can watch its productions (demo), access to its
archive and participate its event (demoparty), yet it’s closed because it
requires specific technical knowledge to actively join, truly appreciate the work
and… to discover this culture initially. People are loosely connected, and
though there is a website which has been considered to be a base (Pouet) there is no such
thing as an authority to issue its membership card.
Then, what kind of people should we
call “demosceners”?
Clearly there are various
interpretations for this term, but from where I see it, you can’t call yourself
“demoscener” just because you watch demos on YouTube or drank beer at demoparty.
In this case, “demoscene fan” would be more suitable. To me, demoscener is
someone who makes demo, helps organizing a demoparty or does something actively
to get this culture going. Demoscener is an earned title. And, at least, these
are my definition of “demoscener” in this post.
9.
It’s so
diverse that no one shouts about “diversity”.
Majority of demosceners are 30-40s
male from Europe, but this visible fact should not overshadow the diversity of
this culture. Country, age, gender, color of skin, language, profession…
Demosceners all come from different backgrounds and that’s just normal for
them. They take this inclusive nature for granted that no one shout about the
word “diversity”.
Demoscene is a community of interest
and demosceners are connected through common passion for computer and art. No
matter where you come from or who you are, as long as you share same interests
and have respect for others, you will be welcomed.
Having said that, please remember that
they won’t welcome you with big applause or wide open arms, but you’ll feel
that the door quietly opens.
8. Most of them don’t consider themselves
nerds, and we can’t really call them nerds either.
“I’m not a nerd.” I don’t know how
many times I’ve heard this phrase while talking with and reading about
demosceners. I didn’t ask “are you a nerd?” but they mentioned this
spontaneously.
Generally speaking, a nerd refers to
someone who has extreme interest in only one subject and is socially awkward. And
many English dictionaries state that this “one subject” is computers. Demoscene
is computer subculture and most of the people who drive this scene are
naturally computer-savvy, so they don’t have problems accepting the description
of “someone who has extreme interest in computers”. But when it comes to other
two traits, which are “single-minded” and “socially inept”, they are hesitant
to tick off.
To start with obvious reasons, they
are not really single-minded since everyone I interacted with have many
interests other than computers. And for sociability, demoscene has a built-in
social feature called “demoparty” which is held all over the world and all year
round. They bring their works, drink, mingle and exchange ideas with
like-minded people. Although most of them are not the type of social butterfly,
they socialize in their way and enjoy the companionship.
And there are other reasons why they
don’t consider themselves nerds. For demosceners, computer is a tool to create
art. They are interested in researching new technologies and deepening their
knowledge of computers, but their biggest interest is to leverage them to
express themselves in art form. So, from this point of view, “artist” might be
more suitable than this n-word to describe them. And probably, they feel more
comfortable to be called with that.
7. Their approach is practical and logical.
I just wrote that they are more like
artists, but these artists are not the kind that spreads arms toward the sky
and wait for magic or miracle to happen. They don’t let their emotion control
their hands on the keyboard either. Their approach for the work is practical
and reasonable.
This can be confirmed with production
notes they release after the compo (competition). A lot of demosceners reveal
the “making of” in the form of blog post, video or seminar held at demoparty. They
usually share what technique and method they used, the process they took, and where
they got the idea for the work.
With this production notes, you can
see they rely on their accumulated knowledge, skills, experiences and steady
work to create a piece, not a flash of inspiration or luck. If you ask demosceners
how it’s made, they can explain it logically. They won’t say things like
“because an angel whispered in my ear”.
6.
They
discover their strength and learn to collaborate with others.
When we break down demosceners into more specific titles, we
see programmers, graphic artists, designers, musicians, directors, organizers,
presenters, DJs, diskmag editors.. and the list goes on. And many of them are
wearing multiple hats.
They all started as an individual who's attracted by this
culture for some reason, and by creating demos, joining demoparties and
communicating with others (i.e. demoscene activities) they discover their
strength in the scene and subsequently in the society. Some keep brushing up
their skills, some find their potential in different roles, and some find other
interests through demoscene.
And by discovering and recognizing their strength, they can
start working with other people with different skillset or strength. They ask
for help, discuss, understand each other's view/work style, manage the project
and complete by the deadline. Through this process, they learn how to
collaborate with other people.
When you look at the top class demo made by a group of
different talents, you’ll see each of the group members shine through their own
strength while complementing each other to create one demo. And if you ask them
how the collaboration was, you’ll find there’s a mutual respect for each other.
5. They love
challenges.
They really do. They love challenges so much that they set
limitations for themselves to make the challenge harder. Challenge requires
them to think deeply and solve problems, and in fact that’s what really excites
demosceners and sparks their creativity.
How can I put all these stuff into
64KB? Or better yet, 4KB?
What’s the shortcut to do it?
How can I draw this scenery with only
5 colors?
What’s the alternative method to
achieve similar results?
How can I convey this complex theme in
8 minutes?
What’s the most effective and
beautiful way to show this technique?
How can we handle 300+ visitors with only
10 staffs?
What tools and system would be most useful?
Even when they’re not sitting in front of computers, they are
always thinking and finding a way to solve problems. And they love doing this.
4. They
learn to deal with criticism.
One of the unique things about demoscene is its feedback
system. When you release a demo at demoparty, you will receive real-time
feedbacks through audience reaction; you may hear joyous cheer, applause, boos,
screams or horror - dead silence. At the same time, people who watch the compo
on streaming are typing their comments on chat windows, twitter and forums.
Then once the compo is over, your work is uploaded to the demoscene archive and
YouTube, and you start receiving more detailed comments from demosceners, demo
fans and general viewers.
Most of the comments are direct, and ones from demosceners
are quite harsh because they know what you're doing. Some complement, some
point out its technical flaw, some give you valuable advice and many throw dirt
for many reasons. Even when you won first prize and the work is actually
excellent, there will always be people who thumb down.
And through these feedback systems,
demosceners learn how to deal with criticism; what to and what not to care, who
to listen and who to ignore. They learn how to use them as a reference and
motivation to create next demo. (They usually listen to the comments from
fellow demosceners that they respect.)
But remember this. Demosceners tend to
give aggressive remarks over the internet, but I found many of them are much
milder and friendly in person.
3. They are oh-so competitive.
The culture of demoscene was born from
the motivation to show off one's hacking skills in the 80's. And even after all
these years and huge technical advancement, the essence of this culture remains
intact. Demo is art, demo is self-expression, but as long as they call their
stage "compo", demoscene is a place to show off and compete.
They want to show off what they can,
they want to surprise viewers, they want to prove themselves, and they want
their name on top of the list. Don’t be fooled by their nonchalant attitude, they
are really competitive. And this is vital nature to drive the culture forward.
However, you need to know that
demoscene is not a savage battlefield. Demosceners are competitive but they are
able to appreciate others' work and acknowledge its excellence. They are rivals
but also friends. And they know they have improved each other's skills by
competing.
2.
It’s no
magic, it’s no joke, they work really hard.
So now you know they want to win, but
what do they do to accomplish that goal? The answer is simple; they work really
hard. You might want to say “but these people are mostly professionals, so it
should be very easy because they already have skills and access to resources
and expensive tools”. I understand because I used to think that way, too. But
the truth is, it wasn’t that easy.
Generally, demosceners need to work
hard and tackle these 3 challenges before releasing demos:
1.
Find time
2.
Create a demo which can live up to their high standards
3.
Finish a demo
1. Find time
They have a busy life, so they first need to find time to
work on the demo. Many of them wake up early or go to bed late to make time, and
some work at lunch time or work in a daily commuter train.
2. Create a demo which can live up to their high standards
Most of the demosceners set high standards for their work,
and they don’t want to release something that they are not feeling happy about.
To meet these standards, demosceners try many different methods and go all the
way. Some spent a large amount of time to master new techniques , some worked
on the same project for several years to polish it, some brought together
different talents to perfect every aspects, and some scrapped everything to
start over. Probably, they are their own worst critic.
And if they aim higher spot on the ranking, addition to meet
their own standards, they also need to care about the perspective of audience. Not
just showing off their skills, top groups are always thinking about the way to
present them. They consider who the audience is and how to entertain them. Some
secrets were revealed in their interviews, so go check that if you want to know more.
3. Finish a demo
Demosceners recognize this as the most difficult step in
demomaking. They are already tired by this time, but they have to review the
work and fix some issues which is not so fun to do. But this is critical
process and it directly affects the outcome. A lot of them leverage the power
of deadline to do this, and one group revealed that they locked themselves in a
secluded country house to finish it.
And this hard working spirit can be
found in demoparty organizers, too. They spend so much time to plan and prepare
the event in order to make the party go smoothly. Ticketing, scheduling, funding,
sound system, lighting, programs for sessions and compo, streaming, prizes…
they make sure all is under control. If you could just relax and enjoy the
party, that means there are people working hard for it.
1.
They are
just doing what they love to do.
Competition motivates them to work
harder and make the culture thrive, and the winning actually bring them a prize
and fame among people in the same field. But still, that’s not strong enough to
call “the engine” of demosceners.
It’s true that creating a great demo
and winning a prize can add some sparkle on your resume, and it could bring you
a first job or dream job in computer graphics industry. But most of the
demosceners are already working in that field, so this cannot be the main
reason to challenge themselves. And it’s not about the money either since what
they usually receive is a trophy and small prizes, or modest cash prize which
is far cry from eSports’.
The reason why they do all these
things is obviously because they simply love to do it. No one ask them to sit
up late and code or draw or adjust bass sound, but they do it spontaneously. No
one force them to create demotools for efficiency, but they do it saying “I
have to”. But no, this is not a job or obligation. They do it because they want
to do it and they love to do it. For them, demoscene is a playground.
However you rarely hear this true
motive from demosceners. In fact, they forgot about it. After spending some
time in this culture, they no longer think about why they do all these stuff or
wonder if they actually like it or not. At this point, they would just engage in
demoscene activity as if that’s the most natural thing in the world. And before
they knew it, voilà, they became demosceners.
A message for new explorers
Discovering demoscene was an accident.
After all these years I still think that way. By peeking the world which is
vastly different from what I’ve been, I’ve learned about different perspective
and it also helped me understand myself.
If you are a person who just
accidentally found out about this culture and got interested, have fun
exploring, there’s way too many interesting things to see here. Hope yours will
turn into a happy accident, too.
Thank you notes
Back in this spring, Zavie-san
suggested me to speak about my perspective on demoscene at certain event. I
eventually declined this for my selfish reasons (I’m sorry), but the
ideas I came up with had stayed on me so I decided to share them in writing. So,
thank you Zavie-san for the inspiration! (He’s going to talk about his demo in
the upcoming Siggraph Asia in Tokyo. Check out his session if you’re going.)
And thank you all the demosceners who
welcomed me at demoparties or interacted with me online, and the first
demoscener I met (your name led me to this culture and look what happened). And
obviously, big thanks to all the demosceners who accepted to do interviews. I
don’t know about you, but it’s been a pleasure for me :)
Thank you for reading this to the end!
