Demo:
A Demo can probably best be described as some sort of real-time generated music video. Usually a collaborative effort, a demo represents the combined skills of a demo goup, featuring stunning graphics and amazing visual effects synchronized to a kicking soundtrack. Demos usually display state-of-the art 3D graphics, pushing the boundaries of currently available technology to present a spectacular show of light and sound to the viewer. Demos usually feature abstract three-dimensional shapes, and visual representations of advanced mathemathics. To fully understand the nature of demos, the best thing to do is to actually download a demo and watch it.
A demo is supplied as an executable program, and will usually take up between 1 and 10MB of disk space, including all required data files. For some people, the Demo competition is the main reason for coming to The Gathering.
64k/4k intro:
Intros are in essence the same as demos, but written to comply with a file
size limit. This introduces a whole new set of challenges for the
creators, as sound waveforms, 3D model meshes and graphics usually take up
a lot of the space in a normal demo. Size-efficient code, microscopic
software synthesizers and efficient compression algorithms are required to
meet the strict size limits. Of course, the intro still has to be
exciting, beautiful, and well designed.
Intros ususally consist of a single executable file, small enough to fall within the size limits of the competition (65536 bytes for 64k intro, 4096 bytes for 4k intro).
Wild/animation:
In this competition, mostly anything goes. It is a competition for all
artistic contributions that don't fit in any other genres. Demos that
break all size limits or are made for exotic platforms, long
computer-generated animations, or even homemade movies (although we are
getting pretty tired of all the Jackass clones). If it's possible to show
on the big screen (and worth showing!), it fits in this competition.
Lately, this competition has been dominated by high quality 3D renderings,
similar to movies like "Toy Story" and "Final Fantasy",
although made by
talented amateurs.
Contributions to this competition come in a variety of digital video formats.
Tracked music:
Trackers were the tool of choice for musicians in the demoscene and gaming
industry for a good decade. A tracker presents the musician with a visual
representation of several audio tracks, allowing him to place triggers for
instrument samples at specific points in time, at the desired pitch. This
apparently simple approach to creating digital music has resulted in
loads and loads of memorable demo and game music. Truly a challenging
medium, we nevertheless receive several impressive contributions to this
competition every year.
The contributions to the tracked music competition are delivered in a variety of exotic tracker formats, usually requiring the program they were created in to ensure correct playback.
High Quality music:
The Wild Compo of music. High Quality music refers to the means of
production, not to the musical quality of the song itself. In this
competition, mostly anything is allowed, except using other
people's copyrighted material, of course. This is where musicians are
allowed to present the best they can do with their tools of choice;
everything from electric guitars and expensive synthesizers, to singing
composers and even rapping has been submitted to this competition,
allowing aspiring producer/composers to show their skills in front of
thousands of people.
The contributions are delivered as MP3 or OGG compressed music.
Rendered graphics:
This competition tests the modelling and posing skills of the artists, as
well as his mastery of his software package of choice. The contributors
hand in still pictures created with a 3D rendering package, similar (or
identical!) to the ones used to create 3D graphics for television shows
and movies.
The contributions are delivered in a variety of still image formats.
Pixeled graphics:
"To pixel" is an expression seldom heard outside of the demoscene
culture,
but its meaning should be clear: creating still images by painting their
picture pixel by pixel with drawing software, using a mouse or a pen and
digital drawing pad. No scanning from picture, magazines etc. are allowed.
The artist has to draw every part of the image by himself, although some
people use their own, scanned, pencil sketches as a base for their
picture.
The contributions are delivered in a variety of still image formats.
Fast music/fast intro:
These competitions mostly follow the rules of the tracked music and demo
competitions, respectively. The catch is, the contribution has to adhere
to a certain theme (a sample pack in the case of fast music), and it has
to be created over the course of a few hours. These competitions usually
result in a lot of humorous, hurried - and sometimes impressive -
contributions.
Useless utility:
This competition has become a classic at The Gathering. The rules are
simple; make a computer program that is of absolutely no use at all.
Chosen by a jury, previous winners include a tool for listening to
image files, and a chat program for just one person.
