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Interview with Japanese Demoscener 0b5vr

(6octaves.com)
241 points nokonoko | 23 comments | 05 Sep 25 11:08 UTC | HN request time: 1.35s | source | bottom
1. herodoturtle ◴[05 Sep 25 14:07 UTC] No.45138777[source]▶
This article was such a cool trip down memory lane, and as an old-timer that hasn’t looked at this stuff since the early 90s (mode13h anyone?) I am so happy to see how strong the scene is today.
replies(2): >>45139164 #>>45139700 #
2. Prime_Axiom ◴[05 Sep 25 14:27 UTC] No.45139017[source]▶
I really enjoyed the interview, and I definitely resonate with the art being free from so called “value” as an asset, truly a pure from of artistic creation and expression. I am curious to know more about the scene and it sounds like they would be welcoming to n00bs, you guys recommend any upcoming live events to keep track of?
replies(2): >>45141138 #>>45146044 #
3. ErneX ◴[05 Sep 25 14:42 UTC] No.45139164[source]▶
His live set demo is pretty neat

https://youtu.be/3lOptjAeA2w

Repo: https://github.com/0b5vr/0mix

replies(1): >>45139235 #
4. skrebbel ◴[05 Sep 25 14:49 UTC] No.45139235{3}[source]▶
Just to clarify for readers who didn't read the interview, not a live set, it’s a 64kb demo that looks and feels like a recording of a livecoding competition. So “live set demo” is technically correct because it’s a “live set” themed demo. But it’s not actually a live set :-)
replies(2): >>45141766 #>>45142514 #
5. ChrisArchitect ◴[05 Sep 25 15:04 UTC] No.45139410[source]▶
Warms my heart when they mention his 'discography' and it's a link to pouet.net, one of the various scene.org sites been around forever and still going. Having any kind of documentation/archives of a subculture's history, especially from around that time when digital things just disappear, is great to see.
6. carra ◴[05 Sep 25 15:28 UTC] No.45139700[source]▶
Mode 13H was pretty nice. But mode 13X, hacked to have square pixels, was the coolest!
replies(1): >>45140924 #
7. velo_aprx ◴[05 Sep 25 16:39 UTC] No.45140573[source]▶
Nice to see Setsukos blog here on hackernews! She has done a lot of great interviews with sceners over the years you should check out.

I met her once at Tokyo Demofest, and I still feel bad about making her try the Swedish licorice I had brought... :)

8. thibaut_barrere ◴[05 Sep 25 17:09 UTC] No.45140924{3}[source]▶
Mode X allowed pretty cool stuff, like fake true color with interlaced lines (R,G,B), double buffering etc!

Fond memories.

Here is a YouTube rendition of a demo I implemented in 96, showing those techniques https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=t8o-uuq73UU&pp=ygUQTmlra2kgaml...

9. fnord77 ◴[05 Sep 25 17:25 UTC] No.45141111[source]▶
I always found Demoscene to be a curious phenomena. A combination of fascination and not understanding the point.

Seems to be mostly a European thing, too.

replies(4): >>45141289 #>>45142601 #>>45146366 #>>45147840 #
10. GuB-42 ◴[05 Sep 25 17:27 UTC] No.45141138[source]▶
https://www.demoparty.net/

The biggest pure demoscene event is Revision in Saarbrücken, Germany. The 2026 edition has yet to be announced, but it is always during the Easter week-end. They have a dedicated newbie corner if you are interested https://2025.revision-party.net/about/newcomers/

11. ◴[05 Sep 25 17:30 UTC] No.45141165[source]▶
12. badpun ◴[05 Sep 25 17:39 UTC] No.45141289[source]▶
They're talented hobbyists who are not interested in monetizing their passion. Such people exist in US too, although perhaps are more rare.
13. slickytail ◴[05 Sep 25 18:16 UTC] No.45141766{4}[source]▶
In what sense is this 64KB? Clearly there's more than 64KB of code in the repo. And since it's typescript it's not like there's a binary that could be 64KB.
replies(1): >>45142534 #
14. genezeta ◴[05 Sep 25 19:19 UTC] No.45142514{4}[source]▶
I don't know why the sibling comment is dead (edit: was). I mean, it is a valid concern, if one doesn't know.

So, for slickytail and anyone who has the same question:

The code is actually compressed into a binary blob. You can see it if you just look at the source of https://0b5vr.com/0mix/0mix.html

A small script loads the blob and uncompresses it before running it through eval:

  fetch("#").then(t=>t.blob()).then(t=>new Response(t.slice(156).stream().pipeThrough(new DecompressionStream("deflate"))).text()).then(eval)
This is a common approach in browser demos and what is counted as "less than 64Kb" is that final html. A similar technique compresses it into a PNG.
15. skrebbel ◴[05 Sep 25 19:20 UTC] No.45142534{5}[source]▶
The html file with all assets and js bundled in is under 64kb.
16. squigz ◴[05 Sep 25 19:26 UTC] No.45142601[source]▶
I think the point is to create fracking cool art - and show off your skills
17. namibj ◴[06 Sep 25 02:22 UTC] No.45146044[source]▶
If Easter doesn't work for you, you can come to Evoke instead, that's (late?) summer in Cologne and not quite as big. Definitely welcoming though.
18. userbinator ◴[06 Sep 25 03:29 UTC] No.45146366[source]▶
From what I've seen, mostly East-European and former USSR.
replies(2): >>45147348 #>>45147539 #
19. skrebbel ◴[06 Sep 25 07:32 UTC] No.45147348{3}[source]▶
About evenly spread both sides of the Iron curtain, I’d say. Lots of demoscene in eg Germany, Scandinavia too. Netherlands, UK and France also have sizeable (though smaller) scenes.
replies(1): >>45147952 #
20. anyfoo ◴[06 Sep 25 08:18 UTC] No.45147539{3}[source]▶
Assembly, arguably the most known demo party, was famously Finnish. Future Crew (who made Second Reality) were (are?) Finnish as well. Lots of demo scene in Germany, also.
21. ptek ◴[06 Sep 25 09:27 UTC] No.45147840[source]▶
There were a lot of global crews during c64 days and a few crews on the Amiga. In New Zealand on the Amiga a lot of the warez and compilations had importros on them. So was a small coding scene here but not as big as Europe or during C64 days.
22. pjmlp ◴[06 Sep 25 09:53 UTC] No.45147952{4}[source]▶
And to lesser extent Iberian Penisula, where sceners like shader toy creators come from.