Commodore 64 demos

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Image:Game Music 4.png

The Commodore 64 demos for the Commodore 64 (C64) were, as far as is known, the first real demos produced on any home computer.

Simple demo-like music collections were put together on the C64 in 1985 by Charles Deenen, inspired by crack intros, using music taken from games and adding some homemade color graphics. In the following year the movement we now know as the demoscene was born. The Dutch groups 1001 Crew and The Judges, both Commodore 64-based, are often mentioned as the earliest demo groups, both producing pure demos with original graphics and music involving more than just casual work and extensive hardware trickery whilst competing with each other in 1986. At the same time demos from different individuals such as Antony Crowther (Ratt) had started circulating on Compunet in the United Kingdom.

The first demos on the C64 were not called demos but rather letter, message, supermessage, et cetera. They were initially produced by the same people who cracked software protection, e.g. The 1001 Crew. The label "demo" appeared later.

Among the earliest demos are:

  • Game Music 1-9 by The Mercenary Cracker (Charles Deenen, 1985)
  • Borderletter from The 1001 Crew (1986)
  • Think Twice I-V by The Judges
  • Rock This by C64CG (1987)

These demos would later evolve into a subculture of their own, resulting in massive parties where demo coders would compete. For the C64, the peak point in time for this culture was the year 1989 in northern Europe. Here, hundreds of Dutch, French, Belgian, German, Danish, Swedish, Finnish and Norwegian groups would meet, for example at Venlo in The Netherlands.

Perhaps the best way of defining what a C64 demo is, would be to say that it exploited a talent. Demos sought to show off the talents of their authors. These talents may have been audio, visual or through programming. It was not unusual to find demos that displayed a single picture, only music tracks or a programming skill.

As the demo scene evolved, programmers would seek to push the limit of the C64. Groups were formed that consisted of members who were skilled in composing music, drawing graphics and programming. Together these members would produce demos that pushed the limits.

Effects thought impossible were achieved. Sprite scrollers were placed in the side-border. Sprites were multiplexed (over 8 sprites, sometimes up to 128 sprites). Routines such as FLD (flexible line distance) and FLI (flexible line interpretation) further expanded what the C64 was capable of doing. DYCP (different Y Character position) allowed scrolls to take on a different Y position, making them scroll along in a sine wave). The number of colours displayed was increased beyond the advertised 16 through use of the Flexible Line Interlace (FLI) mode.

Followers of the C64 would see the growth of the demo scene. Gone were the single file demos with one scrolling text and no music. Full disk demos were produced, some of which would play music as the next file loaded, without any delay in the sound.

Hidden parts were included as was the occasional game implemented into a demo.

When the Commodore Amiga appeared, many former C64 demo programmers switched platforms and continued to make demos, but for the Amiga (see Amiga demos). The Atari demos were also heavily influenced by C64 demos. In Britain, the main alternative demo scene was the one of ZX Spectrum demos.

The C64 was in a time when local BBSes were popular and used to communicate with other people. Software trading via mail was also common. Some C64 enthusiasts lament the loss of the social interaction that locally centered computer activities provided.

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External links

it: Demo per Commodore 64

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