}0nfff1neef2nddf3nccf4nbbf5naaf6n99f7n88f {m{2 - THE TRUTH ABOUT DEMOS - }0n77f1n66f2n55f3n44f4n33f5n22f6n11f7n00f {1 {e By Prrak of Catastrophy {aIt's about one year ago now, I was reading the news section in a vaguely familiar magazine, when {cCybersystem{a, our group's coder, called me (on the phone, of course.) I carefully picked up the phone with two fingers, held it against my ear and said "{fHello?{a" An anxious scream from the other side of the line exploded into my ears. It was some seconds later that I realized the hysterical voice at the other end of the line had said "{fHello! {cCybersystem {fhere!{a" "{fOh.{a" was my response, "{fwhat is it?{a" "{fListen, next week is the RAF Royal Conference, right?{a" "{fYes.{a" "{fI think I've got a nice raw {esource {fhere, maybe we can turn it into a demo, so we might even go home with a prize if we enter in the {ccompetition{a." "{fWhy not give it a try? Do you think it can be completed within a week?{a" "{fI think so. Can you come over, so we can discuss some stuff?{a" "{fSure, coming in half an hour.{a" "{fSee you.{a" As I hung up, I {crealised {awhat a nice guy {cCybby {aactually was, doing all this work for the group in one week and all. I remember the time when I wanted to learn how to code, and failed miserably. So you can {eimagine {aI had a great deal of respect for coders, back then... {aI got on my feet and was just about to get my stuff, when I my attention was drawn to one particular sentence. I cannot recall it exactly, but it must have been something like "{eIJSCOMAN of the {cDanish {edivision of {cSCHIJTNAALD{e" {adidn't code his demo "{eVECTORLOVE{a" by himself, he bought the sources from KADUNK of the German group {cTRANSSEX-KOE.{a" {aNot very special, you might think. It is a shame these things happen, but they do and we cannot do anything else than accept it, and not do it ourselves, of course. But I {ewondered{a, whether or not all these cases of {csourcebuying{a, or {cdemobuying{a, get in the news. One could easily keep it silent, after all it is simply a case between the coder and the buyer. {aThen, a horrible thought was born somewhere in the back of my mind. Had my good friend {cCybersystem {abought his source from somebody else? It's very strange when someone who hasn't produced any kind of coding in months, suddenly comes up with a source that could be turned into a demo within a week. I decided that this case should be {fresearched{a, until I knew exactly what was {ehappening{a. {aI started writing letters, to {cIjscoman {aof {cSchijtnaald{a, asking him why he had bought his sources, where he had bought his sources and if he knew anyone else who either bought or {esold sources{a. {aI wrote to {eKadunk {aof {eTranssex-Koe{a, asking him why he had sold his {fsources{a, where he got into contact with {eIjscoman{a, what had happened. {aI wrote to about {ethree hundred coders{a, sourcebuyers, sourcethieves, etc etc. And when I finally reached a conclusion, it was too terrible to write it down. So I'm writing it here, after a year of therapy, suicide-attempts and several shrinks, in ICE. So here is my conclusion... {d THERE ARE NO CODERS IN THE SCENE! {cAre you shocked? {eMaybe I should explain myself.... {aAs I said earlier, I wrote to a great deal of coders and apparant non-coders. Not {eeverybody {aanswered, but when I read the letters they send me, I soon {cdiscovered {asomething... Something that isn't easily explained. Let me give you an example. When a good friend whom you haven't seen for a long time, writes you a letter, you can make up there's something wrong with him, ie, you are reading between the lines. It was virtually the same thing with the letters I received from the coders. I noticed the most {finteresting {athing all letters had in common, was the fact that all coders (the {bREAL {acoders) tried somehow to stay away from going into detail in the source. So I went undercover in the world of coding. A pretty difficult task you will agree, but I was desperate to see what was behind all this. I had a plastic operation ({ea new nose, a wider chin and smaller ears{a) as to change my face. I chose a new name for a while, a typical codername; {dZEIKSTRAAL{a. Then, I started a new group, {cTOUCH{a, which I wanted to use as a base for my {cundercover{a activities in the coder scene. I started putting ads everywhere, like these ones: {aCoder, looking for other coderz and perhapz GFX- and muzicmen to join forcez in new High Quality Group. Write to {cZEIKSTRAAL, P.o.box 1, Leiden, Holland{a. {eor{a: {fYo! {aMe look for cool coderz to join group and become world famouz. Write to: {cSeikztraal, P.o.box 1, Leiden, Holland{a. {eZU L7R! {aI got a lot of {dresponce{a, but it was only after I placed the latter ad for the third time, that I got the response I was looking for. It was a neatly printed letter, very slick-looking indeed, but also nameless. I copied it here: {aDear Mr/Mrs/Ms {eZeikstraal{a, It has come to our {fattention {athat you are looking for coders, {cpainters{a, and music composers. Assuming that you want to make a demo using their qualities, we are willing to help you in doing this. {a If you are interested in our abilities, leave a note under your pillow before you go to sleep. {e Yours Sincerely, {f (Anonymous) {aYou'll have to agree that this was strange. Anyway, I decided to leave a note under my pillow that night, just to see what would happen. The next day, the note had {estrangely disappeared{a. This was very strange, because I had not only stapled the note to the pillow, I had also {econnected {ait to my two ears using a paperclip. The note had been replaced by brochure of some kind. I glanced at some of the photo's in it while having breakfast, they all appeared to be screenshots of famous demos. From "{fSubstance{A" to the original "{fRed Sector Megademo,{a" to "{fVirtual World,{a" to "{fMental Hangover{a," every demo that ever got famous, was in there. Under each of these photo's was the release date, and in a footnote I read "{cSome of our former successes{a." This was getting weirder every moment. I started reading the disturbing text. When I had finished, I could only draw one conclusion; the entire demo scene is a lie - all the demo's had been coded by the men who put this brochure together. No wonder all demos had been {ecliche-like{a... No wonder all demos contained nearly the same vectors and copper plasmas, they were all made by the same people! {aI started researching where these coders could operate from... And guess what... I ended up in the States, on the steps of {fCommodore Business Machines{a Limited, {cWorld Headquarters{a. Of course, I had no response from {fCommodore (well I did get some response, if that's what you can call a hitman following {ayou around for six months: only a couple of assasins) but by now I didn't need it anymore. All the pieces fitted easily together. When CBM introduced the Amiga to the world, it was apparent it would be a failure, with the only potential customers being 64 and other 8 bit owners, looking for a more powerful machine. So, also to disattract attention from cracking and spreading games, which would be (and is) a destructive business for the Amiga, {cCommodore {asecretly put a group of {eEuropean {aprogrammers together in a top secret team, with the order to make demo's like on the 64. Soon, when groups started forming on the Amiga (after seeing the big demoscene over here they switched to {dAmiga{a, of course. Nobody goes where there's no life.) the group started to offer their work to groups in {cparticular {acoders, who where now coding some simple, basic routines, as a simple way to reach the top. It is very strange when you realize there are about three people working day and night on these demo's they're only selling us. {fHere's a part of the pricelist included in the brochure:{a {eMegademo's {a- {e$200 for basic demo, trackloader + $150 for each next part. Trackmo's {a- {e$300 for intro and trackloader + $50 for each next effect. Intro's {a- {e$25 for a small one with scroller, logo and music. And so, {cvery slowly{a, the scene mutated into today's scene, where every demo we see, is coded by {bCBM {aitself. I hope this article will make it into ICE, because I know I'm being followed all the time. I might not live when you all read this article, but if you do, realize the facts; there are no coders on the {cAmiga{a! Ok, ok, I was joking. It's all a joke. {cCommodore {anever did such a stupid thing, most coders code their stuff themselves, yes, even {cCybersystem{a. I hereby wish to apologize to Cybby (and to the coders of the other great demos I named above) Most of the figures' names (Ijscoman, Kadunk, Touch, Transsex Koe etc) are some vaguely {csexual {cDutch {ainnuendo's, they're not meant to hurt anyone. I hope nobody actually named their crew {eSchijtnaald{a, or themselves Zeikstraal. {fIf you did, I'm sorry about any negative publicity. And, if you don't like this article then simply don't like it - nobody forced you to, now did they? Anyway, don't take it seriously, just leave it. {a It's true, {cThomas Landspurg {atold me that he buys all his source code from Catastrophy. Perhaps not though.. {a-{bEd