Greetings PC Demo Scene,

The final issue of DemoNews was slightly depressing.  Though the
articles were high quality, many of seemed to take a fatalistic view of
the future PC Demo Scene.  My interview was no exception.  There were
several who wrote me email, asking why I was leaving the scene.

  [From the final DemoNews]

  "The end of DemoNews is indicative of the end of an era but not the end
  of the scene.  People change.  Technologies change.  The world changes,
  but the same fundamental precept of the scene remains.  Push the machine
  where it was never built to go and have some fun along the way.  As long
  as the SCENE I grew up with is around in some capacity, you will
  continue to find me an active contributer."

However, the scene I grew up with is having some problems right now.
Everyone is stuck in this self-consuming loop of depression.  Veterans
are often found reminiscing about the "glory days", discouraging
would-be newbies from joining and participating in our scene.  We are
chasing away the very people who should become the next generation of
our community.  This must stop.

The PC Demo Scene has traditionally been DOS-based.  I can still recall
how funny it was trying to get demos to run under Windows back in 1993.
You might have had slightly better luck trying to get your floppy drive
to read a slice of cheese.  In 1996, I was amazed when I got a few demos
to run successfully under Windows.  In 1998, I was NOT surprised when
almost all of the demos from The Party 7 ran under Windows without
crashing.

We have been carefully dancing around the issue for years.  Now it is
time to confront it directly.  The PC Windows Demo Scene.  It is a scary
thought.  Real PC demos produced to run under Windows only with no DOS
compatibility?  Blasphemy.  Or is it?  The world IS moving to a Windows
environment and it seems only natural that our scene will follow.

When I put together the final issue of DemoNews, it was my intention to
gradually distance myself from the scene.  I had planned on working with
the archive and my group until the PC DOS Demo Scene days were over.
Like I said, I do not like loose ends.  I like closure.  Ironically
enough, my final goal in the scene was to try and help it end in a
dignified fashion.  I don't mean this to sound presumptuous.  I simply
intended to keep up maintenance on The Hornet Archive until there were
no more uploads and our file graveyard was complete -- a testament to a
decade's worth of work by a wonderful community.  Epitaph: "We were
here!  May our greets still be watched on PC emulators 20 years from
now."

Then I started thinking about how much the scene has influenced my life
-- about how I am a better person for the experience.  After the
feedback I received from the final DemoNews, I know many of you feel the
same way.  There are hundreds, if not thousands of you out there who
consider your lives better as a result of the PC Demo Scene.

Then it happened.  I suddenly realized that the PC Demo Scene does not
have to end.  I realized that a new Windows scene can be birthed and
carefully guided to maturity.  A PC Windows Demo Scene CAN achieve the
same level of eliteness in 1999 that the PC DOS Demo Scene had back in
1993.  A Windows scene CAN restore our once-respectable image in the
public's eyes.  There are even groups like TBL who have been pushing to
jump start this new scene and yet many have us have done nothing but
condemn them for their efforts.  This must stop.  I'm not saying that a
Windows scene has a 100% chance of succeeding, but we should at least
give it an opportunity to prove itself.  All we need is a little faith
and a lot of patience.

Starting today, The Hornet Archive accepts and encourages native
Winmoes.  We are not converting it to a Windows archive.  We are simply
going to do what we can to allow both of these independent scenes to
have files that cohabitate.

A /demos/windows/1998 directory has been created and there are now three
productions in there (Stash, Astral Blur, and Final Reality).  All three
of these Winmoes are being stored and cataloged in packed .exe format,
ready to be downloaded and executed with a few simple clicks.  No
unzipping or installation is required (er... except for Final Reality).
We have been working with TBL for the past few weeks in order to get
these new raw .exe versions online in time.  From what I understand, a
Winmoe version of Jizz is also supposed to be completed in the next day
or two.

An /incoming/demos/windows directory has been made for your uploading
convenience.  Phoenix will continue to catalog DOS demos, while Trixter
and I catalog Winmoes.  We have added a new party marker called "dwin"
so that parties with windows demos can be more easily cataloged.  There
are now links on the main page of our archive to "Winmoes", and to The
Black Lotus's "Win32 Demo Programming Page".

Why all the hype?  Perhaps it was improperly motivated, but I wanted the
rest of you to get pumped up.  When I finally posted this announcement,
I wanted you to have a lot of energy.  There you go.  Now you have
something to direct your attention to.

Why 01 March 1998?  No reason.  It was an arbitrary date chosen at
random.  I'm tricky like that. :)

Our destiny is not sealed.

We are not doomed.

We have a CHOICE, and I have made mine.

Make your decision today to keep this scene alive!

Humbly yours,

Snowman / Hornet - r3cgm@hornet.org
01 March 1998