On the occasion of my new book Too Much Fun: The Five Lives of the Commodore 64 Computer, I am writing The History of the Commodore 64 in Twelve Objects, posted weekly from November 1st, 2024:
I have told this Commodore 64 history through objects. And indeed, the C64’s commercial life ended before the immaterial internet became widely available. Though dial-up bulletin boards (BBS) gradually made it possible to communicate over telephone lines, the more or less underground (and more or less illicit) technical culture of the C64 was tangible and completely physical.
Parties started taking place during the late 1980s especially in Northern Europe, meetings of almost exclusively boys and young men bringing their computers and CRT monitors to crowded rooms, sharing software, and later competing in making demos, audiovisual programs demonstrating skills.
The first parties were strictly noncommercial and invite-only events. You felt part of an elite club, receiving the paper invite by physical mail.
Looking back, the bigger parties started in smaller towns, using municipal buildings like schools and community centers as well as support from non-profits like scouts. The 1988 Tommerup party was in the latter, a scout center. According to legend, organizers were overwhelmed by attendees, and the party was moved to an also overcrowded community center.
The 1988 Tommerup party in a much too crowded room. (Photo by Björn Fogelberg)
As I began participating in such events around 1988, parties tried to shed the association with piracy and became “demoparties” with formalized competitions for the best demo.
New Limits demo by The Supply Team
In Too Much Fun I tell the story of a 1989 demoparty, what it was like to write demos and to participate, but for now it is enough to say that early demos were often focused on showing one technical trick, like in The Supply Team’s “New Limits” demo release at Tommerup, which shows a scrolling text that fills the entire screen including the border.
Crest/Oxyron’s 2000 Deus Ex Machina demo.
Demos later evolved into more elaborate designs, often structured around a theme or visual composition, like in Crest/Oxyron’s 2000 Deus Ex Machina.
What demos have you enjoyed?
Coming Jan 10th: Object #11 – Turrican II – keeping up with the Amiga