Visualice and the Evolution of Demos

By Adok/Hugi

Farbrausch's demo from Assembly '03 was criticized in some forums because it looked very much like the demos of Haujobb. That's not much of a surprise though, as it was designed by their newest member Visualice, who had formerly been responsible for Haujobb demos. But as a matter of fact, Haujobb had already created a lot of renowned productions before Visualice joined in, which happened in the year 2000. Just remember Discloned or the Licht saga. Not to forget all the Amiga demos! Nowadays Haujobb may be one of the best known and most popular PC scene groups, but think back what it was like five years ago: in those days, Haujobb was already dominating the Amiga scene, and yet it was almost unknown on PC.

It's not that the demo group Haujobb has a genuine style; it's rather that Visualice has a particular style. Whenever he joins a group, he shapes the appearance of its productions. Mind that he's already been active before joining Haujobb. He also shaped the productions of Jamm, Pulse (the leader of the PC scene in the mid 1990s - God bless it!), Maturefurk and Sunflower. Thus, he is the best example of the share a graphician can have in a demo.

Asking yourself who's the most powerful person behind a demo, you will probably first think of the coder. But Visualice's example demonstrates that graphicians can have a major impact. It's his work that gets recognized by most people. The reaon is that it's so obvious - you see the images and you recognize Visualice's typical style.

By contrast, the work of a coder is not so obvious. Of course you know that the effects and the transitions are the coder's work, but please, answer me: Who programmed "liquid... wen?"? Was it Droid, Hellfire or Cynic? Be honest: Did you know the answer, or did you have to look it up?

The fact that a graphician seems to be more important for the corporate design of a particular group shows how much demos have evolved from demonstrations in the literal sense (demonstrations of their programmers' skills) to pieces of art, which is about impact on its audience.

Note that I haven't stated that graphicians have replaced coders as the most prominent participants in the demo-making process all together! In Farbrausch, for example, the coders are still its most famous and typical members.

Adok/Hugi

Appendix: Demos designed by Visualize

Jamm: Nation 0 (1995)
Jamm: Dream (1995)
Jamm: Dawn (1996)
Jamm: Nation 0 part 2 (1996)
Jamm R: Resurrection Now (1997)
Pulse: Tour (1998)
Pulse: 73 Million Seconds (1998)
Jamm R: Birdcage (1998)
Maturefurk: Virhe (1999)
Sunflower: Zilog (1999)
Sunflower: Wonder (1999)
Haujobb: Unet Sydämen Ajatuksia (2000)
Haujobb: Strange Feelings (2000)
Haujobb: Strange Worlds (2000)
Haujobb: Art (2000)
Maturefurk: Lapsus (2000)
Haujobb: Moments (2000)
Haujobb: Mosaik (2001)
Haujobb: (We Took The) Greenpill (2001)
Haujobb: Elements (2001)
Haujobb: Mother Mother Fukwit Daddy (2002)
Haujobb: Channel 5 Sequence (2002)
Haujobb: Liquid... Wen? (2002)
Haujobb: We Are (2002)
Haujobb: Genoaux (2003)
Farb-rausch: FR-031 Faded Memories (2003)
Kewlers: A Significant Deformation Near The
Cranium (2003)