Atari demos
Encyclopedia
Atari demos generally refer to demo
s created for the Atari ST
home computer
.
" (TEX for short) who created a series of music demos (enhanced with a bit of scrolling text and some nice rasters) in 1987. In 1988 the Atari Demo scene gathered further momentum with the release of the B.I.G. Demo, which was a large collection of music ported from the Commodore 64
by Jochen Hippel
onto the Atari ST
.
Following the B.I.G. demo, various crews continued to push the limits of the Atari ST
hardware with innovative and efficient coding techniques (pre-calculated sprites, table driven calculations etc), as well as discovering and exploiting undocumented hardware features and bugs (synchronised coding, border busting, sync scrolling).
Besides the major contributors a number of unknown crews were active during this period, mainly preparing to become game developers - the ultimate ambition for many on the demo scene.
. While the Amiga had the benefit of some rather advanced hardware for the time coders on the ST had to make do with a marginally faster clock-speed and later on abusing the hardware to do certain tricks like emulating hardware scrolling. A common refrain from the rather proud ST coders was "needs no custom chips" when they successfully replicated a demo effect that had been originally seen on the Amiga.
A small but enthusiastic scene still exists in 2007, and an Atari presence can still often be found at numerous annual Demoscene
parties like Outline, Paracon, Atari Connexion and others. Recently it seems the Atari scene has started to re-established contact to the general demo scene, which is indicated by Atari related releases at Evoke and other demo-parties.
Demo (computer programming)
A demo is a non-interactive multimedia presentation made within the computer subculture known as the demoscene. Demogroups create demos to demonstrate their abilities in programming, music, drawing, and 3D modeling...
s created for the Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
home computer
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
.
History
The Atari Demo Scene can probably be traced back to a group called "The ExceptionsThe Exceptions
The Exceptions were early pioneers in the Atari ST demo scene in the 1980s. Based in German and starting as teenagers they wrote a series of graphical demonstration computer programs to show off the coding and artistic talents...
" (TEX for short) who created a series of music demos (enhanced with a bit of scrolling text and some nice rasters) in 1987. In 1988 the Atari Demo scene gathered further momentum with the release of the B.I.G. Demo, which was a large collection of music ported from the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
by Jochen Hippel
Jochen Hippel
Jochen Hippel is a musician from Kirchheimbolanden in southwest Germany. He played one of the most prominent roles in computer music during the 16-bit microcomputer era, composing the music for tens of games. He was also an experienced Amiga programmer and ported many of Thalion Software's Atari...
onto the Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
.
Following the B.I.G. demo, various crews continued to push the limits of the Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
hardware with innovative and efficient coding techniques (pre-calculated sprites, table driven calculations etc), as well as discovering and exploiting undocumented hardware features and bugs (synchronised coding, border busting, sync scrolling).
- The Union Demo (1989, the first big multi-crew, multi-screen demo)
- The Cuddly Demos (1989, The CareBears big splash in the Atari demo scene)
- The Decade Demo (1990, by a UK based group called "Inner Circle")
- The PHF Demo (1990, by a UK (Hull) based group called "PHF (Psycho Hacking Force)")
- Ooh Crikey Wot a Scorcher (1991, the last by a group of Brits known as "The Lost Boys")
Besides the major contributors a number of unknown crews were active during this period, mainly preparing to become game developers - the ultimate ambition for many on the demo scene.
Rivalry with Other Platforms
An often cited aspect of the ST demo scene was it's rivalry with it's fellow 16 bit computer the AmigaAmiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
. While the Amiga had the benefit of some rather advanced hardware for the time coders on the ST had to make do with a marginally faster clock-speed and later on abusing the hardware to do certain tricks like emulating hardware scrolling. A common refrain from the rather proud ST coders was "needs no custom chips" when they successfully replicated a demo effect that had been originally seen on the Amiga.
Current state
The Atari demo scene started to peter out around 1993 as the popularity of the 16-bit micros was overtaken by the relentless advance of the x86 based PC. Some nostalgic demos have been released since and several demos have enjoyed revivals running on ST emulators such as STonX and PacifiST or more recently on SainT or STEem.A small but enthusiastic scene still exists in 2007, and an Atari presence can still often be found at numerous annual Demoscene
Demoscene
The demoscene is a computer art subculture that specializes in producing demos, which are non-interactive audio-visual presentations that run in real-time on a computer...
parties like Outline, Paracon, Atari Connexion and others. Recently it seems the Atari scene has started to re-established contact to the general demo scene, which is indicated by Atari related releases at Evoke and other demo-parties.