Ein WizBall durchsichtig vor der Scrollschrift.

The demo in its final version (without endless display of the Amiga memory).

The demo was written from scratch in assembler. The VisualStudioCode with the Amiga Assembly was used.

Ressources

The resources of the demo – including .adf, SourceCode, Video, some Pictures:

Research demo

The demo “Josef K … “ also contains some research questions. The following research questions were answered.

Research questions

Of course, there are already answers to all the following questions in the form of demos. Nevertheless, the approach chosen here was to make such a demo ourselves (experimental archeology) in order to experience for ourselves why the demoscene is partly the way it is. An attempt was also made to apply all the categories in the demo itself in order to ‚experience‘ the interactions for ourselves.

The questions and sub-questions:

1. Why do all demos try so hard to have a good design? And why is it difficult to make an ugly demo? And what stops a maker* from doing so? (Demo-Brute)
2. Why are there very little tile-based graphics in demos, especially on the Amiga (except for scrolling fonts or endless backgrounds)?
3. Many demos don’t say much about their design. Why is that so? Can demos be self-reflective and because it’s clear that they can, why doesn’t it happen anymore?
4. Many demos do not contain any source code in the demo display itself. Why is that the case? Is there a way to integrate code into the demo?
5. Irony: Can demos also be ironic towards the demoscene itself and the demoscene as a community? And if so, how? Problem: parties.
6. The stories of demos often try very hard and are often not well told. Why is that the case? How can a classic story be integrated?
7. Cultural connections. Very few demos have any kind of cultural connection to existing (culture/art/design) discourses. Exceptions are music/sound and film. Beyond that, there are very few allusions, adaptations of existing texts, plays or films. Are this set rules? And if so, why?
8. Inclusion of the specific demo event. How can this be done? Specifically, it was about the fact that MountainBytes has always had cows (since the BünzliParty) and that’s just very stereotypical (and since I grew up on a farm, also a bit too bünzlig). How about putting a „Naktwanderer“ (Nude hiker) in the limelight (also a very “Bünzli” theme in CH) [Bünzli: average swiss persons with some problems]

Das ist schon interessantes Phänomen, viele Dinge waren rein technisch gelöst und interessant, sobald nicht mehr um mehr Bälle mit mehr Farben ging – also da wo viel Design letztlich oft entsteht – in der Gestaltung von Gestalbarem – hört es schnell auf. Der Modus scheint: Challenge erreicht. Gemacht und abgehackt.

Vom ewigen Beständigen zum flexiblen Ausgeführten – ein kleiner Schritt für die Mathematik, ein grosser für die Menschheit: Alain Turing und Co und die Universalmaschine. Kein Wunder wollten die Mathematiker am Anfang Maschinen, die Differentialgleichungen und Co lösen konnten, statt trivial Bits&Bits zusammen rechnen. Sie sind zu „einer Unterkategorie“ geworden, eines viel mächtigeren Diskurses. Auch wenn die Praxis von Mathematik immer die Anwendung von Algorithmen waren mit vorhandenen Lösunswegen. Brute Force Methoden gehörten allerdings dann doch selten dazu und heute sind sie Alltag bis hin zum Learning von NeuroKIs. Hier spielt die Informatik angelehnt an die Biologie ihre grösste Stärke aus und auch ihre grösste Schwäche. Es geht nicht mehr um Regeln.