AMIGA MEGADEMOS  By Joe Hanna-Rivero  Since the Megadisc library has recently introduced NDOS demos on its magnetic shelves I thought it an opportune time to examine this aspect of the Amiga, its history, development and what it contributes to the Amiga overall.  ¿? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿?  THE OL' FAITHFUL 64 Before we can begin to examine demos on the Amiga we must first turn our attention to its predecessor, the venerable Commodore 64. The 64 was arguably the world's most popular hacker computer, responsible for many innovative concepts and the development of radical programming techniques. This was due to its then powerful VIC II and SID chips which lent themselves open for code that hit them hard, often in undocumented ways. Initially, 64 hackers coded what were known as 'intros', jargon for an introductory sequence tagged before a game or program that usually consisted of scrollers and music telling the world that such and such a team cracked or released such and such a game. Initially, these intros were very simple affairs, with a graphic or logo of the team that made it along with a horizontal scroller, full of greetings, contact addresses and mostly boring and repetitive diatribe. As the 64 gained popularity and more groups entered the scene, coding became more refined and competitive with one group striving to make their intro more impressive than another. Things developed to a stage where often the intro preceding a game was more impressive than the game itself. The next thing that occurred was that teams of coders, musicians and graphic artists got together developing stand alone demos which were much bigger and impressive than intros. Very quickly, demos on the 64 were impressing people with never before seen effects like sprites in the border, no border screens, mathematically calculated scrollers, melting graphics accompanied by 4 channel sound (the 64 only has 3 real channels) and other effects hitherto seen. Many of these coders then abandoned their seedy pirate backgrounds and put their skills into their own commercial productions. Mainstream programmers also incorporated techniques they had seen in the hacker demos (widely distributed through Compunet in the UK) into their works and the quality of 64 software gained a boost. In the years 1985 to 1986, coders had taken the 64 about as far as it could go. Programming techniques had reached their peak and nothing new could be demonstrated. It was also around this time that the Amiga began to make its presence felt. Many seasoned 64 veterans sold their faithful 64s and treaded into new computer waters.  ENTER THE AMIGA When the Amiga was first released it caused a big stir with its vastly superior colour handling, higher resolution, faster graphics hardware and better sound. Coders were keen to put fingers to keyboard on rudimentary machine code development tools and assemblers to see what the Amiga was capable of. The first Amiga demos were by today's standards mediocre and consisted generally of a very large looped sampled sound, a digitized or hand drawn picture and a scroller. But it wasn't long before Agnus and Paula were being asked to do things they had never done before. 1986 brought a new kind of demo to the world, the Megademo. Because of the Amiga's low level disk drive, programmers could write their own disk routines and track loaders, in what is popularly known as NONDOS or NDOS disks. Such demos bypass the operating system and 'hit' the hardware direct. This often means that programmers squeeze every ounce of power from the custom chips at the expense of compatibility with future revisions of Kickstart The first famous Amiga megademo was called Tech-Tech released in late 1986 (still available today, ask Tim) written by a Danish coder by the alias of Sodan (who was later to write the big game Sword of Sodan). Despite its age, Tech-Tech incorporates some impressive graphic effects although the sound (predating Soundtracker/Protracker) is a bit limp. Because of its age, this megademo will only run under Kickstart 1.2. Following this a myriad of megademos and later gigademos, flooded the scene, each attempting to better the last. Some of the coding and graphics in these demos put effects in many commercial games to shame. Some examples include 3D worlds with shaded polygon objects moving smoothly at very fast frame rates, realtime calculated fractal animations, colour and plasma effects, mathematically calculated scrollers that twirl, scale and otherwise interact with the background graphics.  THE SOUND OF MUSIC In 1987 a new standard of developing Amiga music was germinating which eventuated under the name Soundtracker and which spawned a myriad of clones and improved systems that continues unabated to this day which includes Protracker, Future Composer and Oc tamed with features like 8 channel simulation and sound synthesis. Essentially, Soundtracker and its clones are like sequencers and they simply allow the creation of patterns of samples which are allocated to the Amiga's sound channels. Clever use of looping, pitch and tempo control can result in surprisingly great sounding tunes. The style of Amiga music used in demos commonly reflects what is fashionable at the time, with electropop, rap, acid and techno styles abundant throughout many demos over the years.  A NEW DIRECTION The Amiga music and megademo scene reached a saturation point in 1989/90. Every man and his dog were coding demos which contained the same worn out effects and which were lacking originality. However, the last year has seen a resurgence of Amiga demos with a renewed vigour. Amazing new coding techniques are producing effects like realtime pans, zooms, morphs, and colour effects not seen before to the accompaniment of even better music; crisper samples ,longer tunes and often synchronized to the events on the screen. Many of the latest megademos also have incredible atmosphere and could almost be classed as mini-movies. Take a look at the mammoth 5 disk demo called 'Odyssey' by the Swiss group Alcatraz. It's reminiscent of the Star Wars saga and the graphics and sound are absolutely stunning. Another must have demo is the 'State of the Art' demo by Spaceballs. If it was playing on a big screen in a disco you would be fooled into believing it was MTV. It's all done with the Amiga and quite simply I cannot describe the effects with enough just ice. I can tell you that the music is among the best there is on the Amiga.  'MUST HAVE' MEGADEMOS I will now list some absolute must have demos and will ensure that Tim has them in the library if they're not already there and perhaps he could release them as a special pack. 1) STATE OF THE ART by SPACEBALLS 2) JESUS ON E'S by LSD 3) WORLD OF COMMODORE by SANITY 4) DAY OF RECKONING by DIGITAL 5) ALPHA AND OMEGA by PURE METAL CODERS 6) RANSACKED by TRSI (Winner 1992 World Of Commodore demo comp- Germany) 7) ODYSSEY by ALCATRAZ All the above demos are guaranteed to astonish you either visually, sonically or both!. Show them to PC owners who try to compare their machines with the Amiga purely on the basis of the VGA graphics and Sound Blaster and watch their eyes pop out and jaws drop. As a matter of interest, demos on the PC are starting to appear and the ones I have seen are of a standard that was shown 2-3 years ago on the Amiga. As I mentioned earlier, some of the coding techniques in demos have no peer in commercial programs. However, former demo programmers have either been contacted to produce games for software houses or some of the coders themselves have decided to release commercial titles. One such example is a group called the Silents who later went on to form the group 21st Century Entertainment responsible for the hits Pinball Dreams and Pinball Fantasies.  PRACTICAL ASPECTS Until now I have discussed the entertainment side of megademos which is reason enough for their existence but there are more practical aspects. How about their potential to sell Amigas?. What would attract more potential customers, a silent and drab Workbench screen or graphics and colours effects with real pizazz backed by a thumping good soundtrack played through a hifi system?. Let me not undermine the power and efficiency of Workbench 2.0/3.0 on the Amiga. It beats the pants out of Windows 3.1 but it's hardly the way to show off the Amiga in a highly competitive retail environment where Sega/ Nintendo and the PC are fighting it from both ends for the public's money. Yet time after time in computer shops or department stores, this is normally the way people get their first impression of the Amiga. Either a lifeless Workbench screen is being shown or a run of the mill arcade game in its attract mode. Put on 'State of the Art' or the 'World of Commodore' demo on a large TV linked to the Amiga and the sound piped to a bassy sound system and Guns and Roses type crowds will gather round!. Well, maybe not but I would guarantee that many more people than normal will stop and witness the true power of the Amiga. Some will even look under the table or counter to see where the 'real' machine responsible for this power is hidden. Pull the plug out of the Amiga and these sceptics will be converted. The bulk of these demos are public domain which means that they can be freely displayed anywhere for people to wonder at. They are the cheapest and best possible means of advertising the Amiga. Another use for demos is at parties or discos. As I mentioned earlier, a demo of the calibre of 'State of the Art' wouldn't look or sound the least bit out of place in a raging disco or party. In fact, this is already happening in Europe. Some discos are using large screen displays and running the best Amiga demos in conjunction with their music. Makes a refreshing change from strobe and smoke effects. Some Amiga demos or excerpts of demos are also making their way into MTV style music video clips. In conclusion, megademos are the real meat of the Amiga. The best of these demos extract every last ounce of power from the Amiga custom chips and put it on the screen to make a great show. Commodore should not be wasting time trying to convince people to buy Amigas instead of PCs to run their businesses. Nor should they try to compete with SEGA or Nintendo for control of the games market. Sure, the Amiga will do both these admirably but let's face the fact that those markets are now firmly entrenched in the hands of the aforementioned companies. Instead, push the Amiga as the fantastic multimedia and tour de force graphics machine that it is. Once people have been awed into handing over their cash, THEN show them that it is also a great business and game machine. Don't take my word for it, see for yourself, order from Tim any of the great megademos available. Also check out the Dyna Demos and Disk-Jockey series [my first and only plug =)-- !!], the biggest comprehensive round up of Amiga music with an easy to use interactive CD player system. Be your own DJ at a party. Show everyone ONLY Amiga makes it possible!.  ¿? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿*? 35 ¿?