DEMOS

The demoscene: small programs showing real-time graphics and music, made for competitions at demoparties. Here are some of the legendary ones from 1992 to 2009 – with group, party and ranking. Second Reality runs right here, recreated from Future Crew's source code, and so does candytron, built from Farbrausch's source to WebAssembly; debris and Elevated run in the browser through demoports' WebGL ports (↗ opens their site); the others link to a video and to pouët.net.

Unreal

Unreal

Future Crew · MS-DOS · Assembly 1992 · 1st PC demo

Won at the very first Assembly – a party Future Crew helped organise.

Videopouët
Panic

Panic

Future Crew · MS-DOS · The Party 1992 · 2nd PC demo

Future Crew's entry for The Party – the year's big party, held in Denmark.

Videopouët
Second Reality

Second Reality

Future Crew · MS-DOS · Assembly 1993 · 1st PC demo

Originally titled "Unreal ][ – The 2nd Reality" (hence U2.EXE) and synced to its music, which was rare at the time. Slashdot voted it one of the "Top 10 Hacks of All Time" in 1999, and the source code was released on its 20th anniversary in 2013.

▶ Watch it hereVideopouëtSource
Crystal Dream 2

Crystal Dream 2

Triton · MS-DOS · The Computer Crossroads 1993 · 1st PC demo

Sweden's Triton later made the FastTracker 2 music tracker, and two of its members founded the game studio Starbreeze.

Videopouët
Verses

Verses

Electromotive Force · MS-DOS · Assembly 1994 · 1st PC demo

Won Assembly the year after Second Reality – ahead of, among others, Iguana's Heartquake.

Videopouët
Heartquake

Heartquake

Iguana · MS-DOS · Assembly 1994 · 3rd PC demo

The big demo from the Spanish group Iguana, shown at the same Assembly as Verses.

Videopouët
Stars: Wonders of the World

Stars: Wonders of the World

NoooN · MS-DOS · Assembly 1995 · 1st PC demo

France's NoooN won Assembly with a surreal world of insects, faces and flying figures.

Videopouët
Heaven Seven

Heaven Seven

Exceed · Windows/DOS · Mekka & Symposium 2000 · 1st 64k intro

Real-time raytracing in 2000, computed in software – in 64 KB.

Videopouët
fr-08: .the .product

fr-08: .the .product

Farbrausch · Windows · The Party 2000 · 1st 64k intro

Made Farbrausch famous: an 11-minute 3D show in 64 KB with procedural textures and the group's own V2 synthesizer.

Videopouët
fr-025: the.popular.demo

fr-025: the.popular.demo

Farbrausch · Windows · Breakpoint 2003 · 1st PC demo

Won the Public Choice award at the 2003 scene.org awards and is still among the highest rated on pouët.

Videopouët
fr-030: candytron

fr-030: candytron

Farbrausch · Windows · Breakpoint 2003 · 2nd 64k intro

A dancing chrome figure in 64 KB: textures and meshes are generated at start-up, the music comes from Farbrausch's own V2 synthesizer. Built here from the source Farbrausch released in 2012.

▶ Watch it hereVideopouëtSource
fr-041: debris.

fr-041: debris.

Farbrausch · Windows · Breakpoint 2007 · 1st PC demo

Won the 2007 scene.org award for best direction. Farbrausch released the tool behind it and the demo's source data in 2012.

▶ Watch in browser ↗VideopouëtSource