Demoscene categories explained: 4k, 64k, demos, and where they are shown

The demoscene is the computer-art subculture that grew out of 1980s cracktros: real-time audiovisual works computed live, not played back as video. Competitions ("compos") at parties are where new work is released. The main categories - Demo: no size limit. Judged on art, code and music together. - 64k intro: the whole executable, graphics and music included, in 64 kilobytes. Textures, meshes and music are generated procedurally at run time. - 4k intro: 4 kilobytes. Usually a single shader plus a tiny synthesiser and a compressor. - Smaller categories exist (1k, 256 bytes) on some platforms. - Oldskool / platform compos for C64, Amiga, ZX Spectrum and others. - Non-real-time compos: pixel graphics, tracked music, photos, animation. A landmark of procedural size-coding .kkrieger by .theprodukkt (2004) is a playable first-person shooter in 96 kilobytes, with all textures and models generated from code at start-up. Parties - Assembly, held in Finland since 1992. - Revision, held in Saarbrücken, Germany, every Easter since 2011, the successor to Breakpoint. Many parties stream compos online. Archives - https://www.pouet.net for releases and comments. - https://demozoo.org for credits, parties and groups. - Finland added the demoscene to its national inventory of intangible cultural heritage in 2020, and several other countries have since done the same. Why it belongs on the Make pillar Size-coding is the opposite of a giant model: everything from a few kilobytes of maths. The raymarching thread on this board is a place to start.