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OffTopic > Demo or Game?

#1802 - liveunderwater - Thu Jan 23, 2003 11:05 am

Would someone please give definition to the terms... Demo and Game in the sense that the GBAX compo is accepting 'games,' and not demos.
This may seem like a stupid question (it certainly does to me) but I have yet to see a more specific guideline for contest entries, and have come across some posts that lead me to believe that I dont know the difference between these two words under these circumstances.

Also, are remakes of games made by companies that are defunct or no longer making games and systems not allowed. For example, old Intellivision games. At intellivisionlives.com, many games are offered for free download, and by the looks of it... legitimatly.

Once again, I seak Clarity

#1814 - Splam - Thu Jan 23, 2003 3:01 pm

To me a game would consists of something with player interactivity, maybe a score but at least some kind of goal. The goal might be to complete a puzzle or destroy as many aliens as possible etc A demo usually has no interactivity (apart from maybe pressing buttons to alter something like music) and no goal. I would say that a production that had a "game" world scrolling with a "game" sprite jumping around and maybe some other sprites might not be classed as a game UNLESS it had that goal. If it had those things AND you had to, say pick up some things and get them to the end of the map without being killed, then it's a game.

As far as remaking old games, thats a tryicky one. Some of the old games are available for free download BUT the sites have gained permission to host those files and the copyright remains with the company who produced them.

#1819 - JonH - Thu Jan 23, 2003 6:03 pm

or, to quote http://www.oldskool.org/demos/explained/#whatisademo

Quote:
A demo is a program that displays a sound, music, and light show, usually in 3D. Demos are very fun to watch, because they seemingly do things that aren't possible on the machine they were programmed on.
Essentially, demos "show off". They do so in usually one, two, or all three of three methods:

They show off the computer's hardware abilities (3D objects, multi-channel sound, etc.)
They show off the creative abilities of the demo group (artists, musicians)
They show off the programmer's abilities (fast 3D shaded polygons, complex motion, etc.)
Demos are an art form. They blend mathematics, programming skill, and creativity into something incredible to watch and listen to.
Grant Smith puts it another way:


Jonny looks around, confused, his train of thought disrupted. He
collects himself, and stares at the teacher with a steady eye. "I want
to code demos," he says, his words becoming stronger and more confidant
as he speaks. "I want to write something that will change people's
perception of reality. I want them to walk away from the computer dazed,
unsure of their footing and eyesight. I want to write something that
will reach out of the screen and grab them, making heartbeats and
breathing slow to almost a halt. I want to write something that, when it
is finished, they are reluctant to leave, knowing that nothing they
experience that day will be quite as real, as insightful, as good. I
want to write demos."

Silence. The class and the teacher stare at Jonny, stunned. It
is the teachers turn to be confused. Jonny blushes, feeling that
something more is required. "Either that or I want to be a fireman."

- Grant Smith,
14:32,
11/21/93


#1859 - zeuhl - Fri Jan 24, 2003 5:20 pm

<sigh>....






;-)