Editing Demoscene (section)

==History==
<!--[[File:Game Music 4.png|thumb|270px|Game Music IV on the [[Commodore 64]] by [[Charles Deenen]] (also known as "The Mercenary Cracker" (TMC)) was perhaps one of the very first demos ever produced. Though TMC dated all his productions to 1991, this demo is known to have been produced in 1985.]]-->
[[File:FC-SR-logo.jpg|thumb|[[Second Reality]] is a demo by [[Future Crew]].<ref name="top10hacks">{{cite web
|url=http://slashdot.org/features/99/12/13/0943241.shtml
|title=Slashdot's "Top 10 Hacks of All Time"
|access-date=25 December 2010
|date=13 December 1999
|publisher=slashdot.org
|quote=Second Reality by Future Crew – Awesome, Mindblowing, Unbelievable, Impossible. Some of the words used to describe what this piece of code from demoscene gods Future Crew did on 1993-era PC hardware. Even by today's standards, what this program can do without relying on any kind of 3D graphics acceleration is impressive. As if the graphics weren't impressive enough, it can even playback in Dolby Surround Sound.
|archive-date=2 May 2009
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090502124046/http://slashdot.org/features/99/12/13/0943241.shtml
|url-status=live
}}</ref>]]
The earliest computer programs that have some resemblance to demos and [[demo effect]]s can be found among the so-called [[display hack]]s. Display hacks predate the demoscene by several decades, with the [[First video game|earliest examples]] dating back to the early 1950s.<ref name="display hacks">{{cite web|url=http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/D/display-hack.html|title=display hacks|last1=Raymond|first1=Eric S.|publisher=The Jargon File|access-date=18 March 2018|archive-date=8 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171008234959/http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/D/display-hack.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Demos in the demoscene sense began as [[Software cracking|software crackers]]' "signatures", that is, crack screens and [[crack intro]]s attached to software whose [[copy protection]] was removed. The first crack screens appeared on the [[Apple II]] in the early 1980s, and they were often nothing but plain text screens crediting the cracker or their group. Gradually, these static screens evolved into increasingly impressive-looking introductions containing animated effects and music. Eventually, many cracker groups started to release intro-like programs separately, without being attached to unlicensed software.<ref name="demo or die">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/1995/07/democoders/|title=Demo or Die!|last1=Green|first1=Dave|date=1 July 1995|magazine=Wired|access-date=18 March 2018|archive-date=19 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319090042/https://www.wired.com/1995/07/democoders/|url-status=live}}</ref> These programs were initially known by various names, such as ''letters'' or ''messages'', but they later came to be known as ''demos''.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}

In 1980, [[Atari, Inc.]] began using a looping demo with visual effects and music to show the features of the [[Atari 8-bit computers|Atari 400/800 computers]] in stores.<ref>{{cite web|title=Atari In-Store Demonstration Program by Atari, 1980|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj5qtlQ74J0| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/Cj5qtlQ74J0| archive-date=2021-11-18 | url-status=live|website=YouTube| date=23 April 2017 }}{{cbignore}}</ref> At the 1985 [[Consumer Electronics Show]], Atari showed a demoscene-style demo for its latest 8-bit computers that alternated between a 3D walking robot and a flying spaceship, each with its own music, and animating larger objects than typically seen on those systems; the two sections were separated by the Atari logo.<ref>{{cite web|title=Atari 1985 CES Demo|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP4YtHW7Gh0| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/pP4YtHW7Gh0| archive-date=2021-11-18 | url-status=live|website=YouTube| date=13 April 2016 }}{{cbignore}}</ref> The program was released to the public. Also in 1985, a large, spinning, checkered ball—casting a translucent shadow—was the signature demo of what the hardware was capable of when Commodore's [[Amiga]] was announced.

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.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} In the following year, the movement now known as the demoscene was born. The Dutch groups 1001 Crew and [[The Judges (demogroup)|The Judges]], both Commodore 64-based, are often mentioned{{by whom|date=May 2018}} among the earliest demo groups. While competing with each other in 1986, they both produced pure demos with original graphics and music involving more than just casual work, and used extensive hardware trickery. At the same time demos from others, such as [[Antony Crowther]], had started circulating on [[Compunet]] in the United Kingdom.