In my spare time, I’m active in the demoscene, a creative and technical community that pushes the limits of real-time graphics and procedural generation. In 2009, I co-founded Ctrl-Alt-Test, a demogroup known for high-quality 8kB and 64kB intros (real-time animations that fit within extreme size constraints).
What is a Demo?
A demo is a real-time computer-generated animation, similar to the graphics in a video game but running as a non-interactive standalone program. Unlike pre-rendered videos, everything is calculated on the fly.
A 64kB intro is a demo where the entire program is under 64 kilobytes. Yes, this includes the music, textures, 3D models, everything. To achieve this, we use:
- Procedural generation for music, 3D models, textures, and animations.
- Compression & optimization techniques to pack high-quality visuals and sound into a tiny footprint.
- Low-level performance coding in C++ to ensure smooth real-time rendering.
Selected Work
The Sheep and the Flower, 8kB, 2023
We set out to create a cinematic-quality real-time animation within just 8 kilobytes, including graphics, animation, music, and camera work. The result is a short film that ran at Revision 2023, won 2nd place, and was nominated for Best Intro at the 2024 Meteoriks Awards.
H – Immersion, 64kB, 2017
A 64kB intro that showcased highly detailed underwater scenes through procedural generation. It was presented at Revision and later at SIGGRAPH Asia 2018, where it sparked so much curiosity that we wrote a multi-part deep dive into its creation.
F – Felix’s Workshop, 64kB, 2012
This 64kB intro features procedurally generated textures, meshes, and animations, with music created using a VST-compatible synthesizer. It uses OpenGL for rendering, with techniques like Blinn-Phong lighting, anisotropic shading, variance shadow maps, motion blur, glow effects, and hexagonal bokeh depth of field. Presented at Revision 2012, it placed 2nd in a tight competition and was later featured on Slashdot and showcased at SIGGRAPH 2013.
B – Incubation, 64kB, 2010
Our first demo, which won Best 64k Intro and Best Newcomer at Evoke 2009. It was also recognized by 4players.de as the 3rd best 64k intro of the year.
Articles
The following articles provide in-depth technical explanations about the demos above, as well as the context and artistic considerations.