Demoscene |
|---|
| Concepts |
| Demo - Intro - Demoparty - Effects - Demogroup - Compo - Music disk - Diskmag - Module file - Tracker |
| Alternative demo platforms |
| Amiga - Apple IIGS - Atari ST - Commodore 64 - Vic-20 - Text mode - ZX Spectrum |
| Parties |
| Current: Alternative Party - Assembly - Buenzli - Evoke - The Gathering - Sundown - X |
| Past: Breakpoint - Mekka & Symposium - The Party |
| Websites |
| Hornet Archive - Scene.org - Mod Archive - Trax in Space |
| Software |
| ProTracker - Scream Tracker - Fast Tracker - Impulse Tracker - ModPlug - Renoise |
| Tracker musicians |
| Demosceners |
The Apple IIgs demoscene goes back to the days of the original Apple II series in the 1980s, when software crackers would put "signature screens" at the beginnings of games of which they had broken the copy protection.
Later on, other groups would release what were termed "show-offs" in some quarters, programs that did interesting things or took advantage of little-known features and techniques to create a unique effect. Many of the extra programs included on Beagle Bros disks fell into this category. Applesoft BASIC was a favorite tool as it was widely available and allowed easy machine-level access through its PEEK and POKE statements.
However, a scene in the true sense of the word didn't emerge until the introduction of the Apple IIgs and its high-quality (for the time) graphics and sound capabilities. This opened the door for the Apple groups to utilize the coder-artist-composer mix that had become fairly standard in the demo community for other machines.
Most IIgs demos were self-booting 800K 3.5" disks, often created with unique booting software that allowed for loading and playing of the demo within seconds of turning the computer's power on. As a result of these unusual loaders, rarely were demos hard-disk installable, though some demo crews did release patches to allow their demos to be installed to a hard drive.
In the 1990s, most demo crews disbanded or moved on to other machines as the IIgs gave way to the PC-compatibles. A few groups, particularly Ninjaforce, remained active and continue to release the occasional project into the community. Most demos are perfectly compatible with several of the IIgs emulators, allowing them to be enjoyed to this day.