Demo scene
Moderators: Mug UK, lotek_style, Moderator Team
-
- Atarian
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Sat Sep 02, 2017 9:20 pm
Demo scene
Hi all I just brought my first st a few weeks ago after many years being a amiga fan, was the demo scene as big on the st as the amiga?
Re: Demo scene
I found back then that Amiga demos displayed presentation whilst the ST ones showed technical achievement, almost trying to catch up with the Amiga's abilities in many cases (something I denied for many years since 1989 until a few years back, when someone on another forum simply said 'the amiga cost £100 more, of course it could do more').
There are many more demos on the miggy that look impressive (State of the Art an obvious one, Jesus on E's etc, as well as many, many technically impressive ones I may add) whilst the ST's more impressive ones are the ones that show the machine doing what it shouldn't be able to (there are many demos that are also fun to watch, but there is in my view an adverse balance between the two).
What I'm trying to say is that if you understand the ST then you'll appreciate the demos a bit more, as there are few 'entertaining' demos than on the amiga. Oh, and I hope you like mad max music
tldr:
Yes, I'd say the ST scene was as big as the Amiga scene. we just concentrated on other aspects of a demo.
There are many more demos on the miggy that look impressive (State of the Art an obvious one, Jesus on E's etc, as well as many, many technically impressive ones I may add) whilst the ST's more impressive ones are the ones that show the machine doing what it shouldn't be able to (there are many demos that are also fun to watch, but there is in my view an adverse balance between the two).
What I'm trying to say is that if you understand the ST then you'll appreciate the demos a bit more, as there are few 'entertaining' demos than on the amiga. Oh, and I hope you like mad max music

tldr:
Yes, I'd say the ST scene was as big as the Amiga scene. we just concentrated on other aspects of a demo.
The Hairy Pies
Re: Demo scene
Always preferred the ST scene because of this. (I got a St then an Amiga).
The coders had to work with a lot of technical limitations but they did wonders. Can't describe my feeling when i saw the first full screen demo.
I strongly recommend this book, it's a real gem :
https://www.microzeit.com/anthology/
The coders had to work with a lot of technical limitations but they did wonders. Can't describe my feeling when i saw the first full screen demo.
I strongly recommend this book, it's a real gem :
https://www.microzeit.com/anthology/
- DarkLord
- Fuji Shaped Bastard
- Posts: 4531
- Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2004 12:06 pm
- Location: Prestonsburg, KY - USA
- Contact:
Re: Demo scene
I saw what you did there!Sturm wrote: I strongly recommend this book, it's a real gem :

(GEM)...
Welcome To DarkForce! http://www.darkforce.org "The Fuji Lives.!"
Atari SW/HW based BBS - Telnet:darkforce-bbs.dyndns.org 520
Atari SW/HW based BBS - Telnet:darkforce-bbs.dyndns.org 520
- Atari030
- Atari Super Hero
- Posts: 641
- Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2012 6:14 am
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
Re: Demo scene
I used to hang with a few Amiga nuts back in the 80's and 90's. When all those ST demos came out doing all the things they said it couldn't do, it was pure gold. There were things the Atari could do better, just not as easily. That is when it showed off programming talent.
I used nail their butts to the wall on F-16, Vroom and Stunt car racer too, null modem. Ah, the good ole days....
I used nail their butts to the wall on F-16, Vroom and Stunt car racer too, null modem. Ah, the good ole days....
- lotek_style
- Mod(ul)erator
- Posts: 2502
- Joined: Sat May 11, 2002 2:39 pm
- Location: germany
- Contact:
Re: Demo scene
[quote="guythp"]
tldr:
Yes, I'd say the ST scene was as big as the Amiga scene. we just concentrated on other aspects of a demo.[/quote]
I disagree... the Amiga scene is triple the size of the ST scene.
tldr:
Yes, I'd say the ST scene was as big as the Amiga scene. we just concentrated on other aspects of a demo.[/quote]
I disagree... the Amiga scene is triple the size of the ST scene.
lotek style / the sirius cybernetics corporation
- musician - ascii-artist - swapper - archivist -
.tSCc. - low-tech atari cyberpunks since 1990
http://www.tscc.de/ | http://demozoo.org/ | http://www.lotekstyle.de/ | http://ymrockerz.atari.org/
- musician - ascii-artist - swapper - archivist -
.tSCc. - low-tech atari cyberpunks since 1990
http://www.tscc.de/ | http://demozoo.org/ | http://www.lotekstyle.de/ | http://ymrockerz.atari.org/
Re: Demo scene
Maybe now but I was referring to over 30 years ago and I don't recall that many more productions coming out on the Amiga. Not quality ones. The may have been more but triple?lotek_style wrote:I disagree... the Amiga scene is triple the size of the ST scene.
The Hairy Pies
- lotek_style
- Mod(ul)erator
- Posts: 2502
- Joined: Sat May 11, 2002 2:39 pm
- Location: germany
- Contact:
Re: Demo scene
Guytp: Even back then it was bigger... Believe me... I'm the master of the archives and I have actual numbers.
Kestra has over 70.000 entries: http://janeway.exotica.org.uk/search.php
while my Archive has about 24000 ST entries.... ftp://fujiology.untergrund.net/users/lt ... fujiology/
do the math.
Kestra has over 70.000 entries: http://janeway.exotica.org.uk/search.php
while my Archive has about 24000 ST entries.... ftp://fujiology.untergrund.net/users/lt ... fujiology/
do the math.
lotek style / the sirius cybernetics corporation
- musician - ascii-artist - swapper - archivist -
.tSCc. - low-tech atari cyberpunks since 1990
http://www.tscc.de/ | http://demozoo.org/ | http://www.lotekstyle.de/ | http://ymrockerz.atari.org/
- musician - ascii-artist - swapper - archivist -
.tSCc. - low-tech atari cyberpunks since 1990
http://www.tscc.de/ | http://demozoo.org/ | http://www.lotekstyle.de/ | http://ymrockerz.atari.org/
- lotek_style
- Mod(ul)erator
- Posts: 2502
- Joined: Sat May 11, 2002 2:39 pm
- Location: germany
- Contact:
Re: Demo scene
... and as I have the feeling people still will not believe me... check the sales figures here:
https://amigalove.com/viewtopic.php?t=131
https://amigalove.com/viewtopic.php?t=131
lotek style / the sirius cybernetics corporation
- musician - ascii-artist - swapper - archivist -
.tSCc. - low-tech atari cyberpunks since 1990
http://www.tscc.de/ | http://demozoo.org/ | http://www.lotekstyle.de/ | http://ymrockerz.atari.org/
- musician - ascii-artist - swapper - archivist -
.tSCc. - low-tech atari cyberpunks since 1990
http://www.tscc.de/ | http://demozoo.org/ | http://www.lotekstyle.de/ | http://ymrockerz.atari.org/
Re: Demo scene
Sales of demos? 
Everyone knows that Amiga users only used their machines for gaming

Everyone knows that Amiga users only used their machines for gaming

- lotek_style
- Mod(ul)erator
- Posts: 2502
- Joined: Sat May 11, 2002 2:39 pm
- Location: germany
- Contact:
Re: Demo scene
Troed: See post before. Period.
lotek style / the sirius cybernetics corporation
- musician - ascii-artist - swapper - archivist -
.tSCc. - low-tech atari cyberpunks since 1990
http://www.tscc.de/ | http://demozoo.org/ | http://www.lotekstyle.de/ | http://ymrockerz.atari.org/
- musician - ascii-artist - swapper - archivist -
.tSCc. - low-tech atari cyberpunks since 1990
http://www.tscc.de/ | http://demozoo.org/ | http://www.lotekstyle.de/ | http://ymrockerz.atari.org/
Re: Demo scene
Even now the Amiga trumps us on presentation (lotek_style wrote:Guytp: Even back then it was bigger... Believe me... I'm the master of the archives and I have actual numbers.
Kestra has over 70.000 entries: http://janeway.exotica.org.uk/search.php
while my Archive has about 24000 ST entries.... ftp://fujiology.untergrund.net/users/lt ... fujiology/
do the math.

But more seriously thank you for those links. I guess I was wilfully ignorant of most amiga releases as my mate who owned one of those games-machines-with-a-keyboard-bolted-on-as-an-afterthought (

The Hairy Pies
-
- Hardware Guru
- Posts: 2308
- Joined: Sat Sep 10, 2005 11:11 am
- Location: Kosice, Slovakia
- Contact:
Re: Demo scene
Yeah, the Amiga scene has always been bigger, much bigger. They still can maintain a news site (sites!) where new releases (apps, games, demos) appear nearly every day. Compare it to our news. ;)
- DarkLord
- Fuji Shaped Bastard
- Posts: 4531
- Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2004 12:06 pm
- Location: Prestonsburg, KY - USA
- Contact:
Re: Demo scene
Bigger doesn't always = better.
Take Microsoft for example...
Take Microsoft for example...

Welcome To DarkForce! http://www.darkforce.org "The Fuji Lives.!"
Atari SW/HW based BBS - Telnet:darkforce-bbs.dyndns.org 520
Atari SW/HW based BBS - Telnet:darkforce-bbs.dyndns.org 520
Re: Demo scene
You probably missed a lot of good demos then, Amiga had its share of amazing demos, a lot.guythp wrote:I don't recall that many more productions coming out on the Amiga. Not quality ones.
Re: Demo scene
Any recommendations would be appreciated. I'm familiar (or I thought I was) with the releases the came out when the machine was still commercially active (up to around 1995 as that was around the time I sold my A1200) but I'd be more interested in ST equivalent (ie: A500) demos.. Hideous Mutant Freaks was one more recent one that impressed me but any that push the machine I'd love to see!keops wrote:You probably missed a lot of good demos then, Amiga had its share of amazing demos, a lot.guythp wrote:I don't recall that many more productions coming out on the Amiga. Not quality ones.
Sorry for hogging this thread, btw.

The Hairy Pies
Re: Demo scene
guythp: you have pages and pages of good stuff there:
http://www.pouet.net/prodlist.php?platf ... er=thumbup
http://www.pouet.net/prodlist.php?platf ... er=thumbup
- lotek_style
- Mod(ul)erator
- Posts: 2502
- Joined: Sat May 11, 2002 2:39 pm
- Location: germany
- Contact:
Re: Demo scene
Forget poudead... latest Atari ST stuff can be found here:
https://demozoo.org/productions/?platfo ... tion_type=
https://demozoo.org/productions/?platfo ... tion_type=
lotek style / the sirius cybernetics corporation
- musician - ascii-artist - swapper - archivist -
.tSCc. - low-tech atari cyberpunks since 1990
http://www.tscc.de/ | http://demozoo.org/ | http://www.lotekstyle.de/ | http://ymrockerz.atari.org/
- musician - ascii-artist - swapper - archivist -
.tSCc. - low-tech atari cyberpunks since 1990
http://www.tscc.de/ | http://demozoo.org/ | http://www.lotekstyle.de/ | http://ymrockerz.atari.org/
Re: Demo scene
True, but to be honest, demozoo lacks a lot when it comes to being able to find the "good stuff". It doesn't list release parties (and the result, e.g., "1st at The Party 1999"), and it has no voting system so it is hard to know the quality of a demo. Pouet has an advantage here as it's been around for quite a while, with a voting system in place, so you're able to sort out the good from the bad fairly easily and accurately,lotek_style wrote:Forget poudead... latest Atari ST stuff can be found here:
https://demozoo.org/productions/?platfo ... tion_type=
Daniel, New Beat - http://newbeat.atari.org.
Like demos? Have a look at our new Falcon030 demo It's that time of the year again, or click here to feel the JOY.
Like demos? Have a look at our new Falcon030 demo It's that time of the year again, or click here to feel the JOY.
- lotek_style
- Mod(ul)erator
- Posts: 2502
- Joined: Sat May 11, 2002 2:39 pm
- Location: germany
- Contact:
Re: Demo scene
Daniel: Where "does it not" list release parties? If you mean in the search-engine... then yes that's still a big mess... but then on the other hand being in top ten on pouet does not necessarily mean "good stuff" as everything is a matter of taste. You have to go through everything... no matter if pouet or any other site.
lotek style / the sirius cybernetics corporation
- musician - ascii-artist - swapper - archivist -
.tSCc. - low-tech atari cyberpunks since 1990
http://www.tscc.de/ | http://demozoo.org/ | http://www.lotekstyle.de/ | http://ymrockerz.atari.org/
- musician - ascii-artist - swapper - archivist -
.tSCc. - low-tech atari cyberpunks since 1990
http://www.tscc.de/ | http://demozoo.org/ | http://www.lotekstyle.de/ | http://ymrockerz.atari.org/
Re: Demo scene
Yes, I was thinking about the search results. Regarding a voting system. It's true that it's a matter of taste (and commitment by the users), but overall it gives a pretty accurate result. Check the first 200 and the last 200 demos when listing Atari ST demos/intros, sorted by thumb ups (at Pouet) for instance. You can quickly find (most of) the gems among all releases. It'd probably be hard for demozoo to introduce a voting system though as there would be such a huge number of demos to vote up/down for everyone (a critical number of users) before the results become fair.lotek_style wrote:Daniel: Where "does it not" list release parties? If you mean in the search-engine... then yes that's still a big mess... but then on the other hand being in top ten on pouet does not necessarily mean "good stuff" as everything is a matter of taste. You have to go through everything... no matter if pouet or any other site.
Daniel, New Beat - http://newbeat.atari.org.
Like demos? Have a look at our new Falcon030 demo It's that time of the year again, or click here to feel the JOY.
Like demos? Have a look at our new Falcon030 demo It's that time of the year again, or click here to feel the JOY.
- Ragstaff
- Atari Super Hero
- Posts: 610
- Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2003 3:39 am
- Location: Melbourne Australia
- Contact:
Re: Demo scene
Speaking of this, I'm a bit out of touch. Pouet used to be the site you went to for demo's. What's the deal with demozoo starting up, people saying pouet is dead and some people clearly not liking Pouet anymore? Was there some big fight or something?
- Currently using an ST, Mega STE, Jaguar, Lynx, and a 2600
- Editing the Atari-forum wiki! Please contribute!
- lotek_style
- Mod(ul)erator
- Posts: 2502
- Joined: Sat May 11, 2002 2:39 pm
- Location: germany
- Contact:
Re: Demo scene
Ragstaff: Between the two websites... definitely NO... I have my personal reasons for this. One major reason... pouet is too limited to do proper preservation as we do on demozoo.
lotek style / the sirius cybernetics corporation
- musician - ascii-artist - swapper - archivist -
.tSCc. - low-tech atari cyberpunks since 1990
http://www.tscc.de/ | http://demozoo.org/ | http://www.lotekstyle.de/ | http://ymrockerz.atari.org/
- musician - ascii-artist - swapper - archivist -
.tSCc. - low-tech atari cyberpunks since 1990
http://www.tscc.de/ | http://demozoo.org/ | http://www.lotekstyle.de/ | http://ymrockerz.atari.org/