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First, the introduction plays, demonstrating text rendering on a background. After that is done, several ships appear and fly away from the camera, demonstrating 3D rendering. After some distance the ships disappear, sending out a shockwave (reminiscent of the Praxis explosion effect seen in the film
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Each Second
Reality visual effects is a full DOS executable. They are called PART and there are 23 of them in total. This design decision allowed fast prototyping, simultaneous development (since FC probably did not have source control tools) and free languages choice (ASM, C and even Pascal can be
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There were many legends about Second
Reality using an elaborated memory manager via the MMU but there is no trace of this in the engine. Memory management is actually delegated to DOS : The engine starts by deallocating all the RAM and then distribute it on demand. The only fancy trick is the
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After a while, this scene fades and many small vector balls fall onto the screen and begin bouncing off the ground and morphing into various spiral patterns. Because of a bug, this part will crash if the demo is installed in a directory with the complete path length exceeding 30 characters.
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For another part that its introductory text calls "just an experiment" start the demo with a command line argument of "u". The screen will start filling with ever more stars warping towards the screen.
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engraved on his forehead. A sphere comes down from the top left corner simulating the below surface being refracted through a magnifying sphere. This is where the soundtrack utters the cult phrase "
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As the scene changes again, this time the image rendered will be of a surface changing shape, similar to that of water. This scene is rendered using a raycasting landscape rendering technique.
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rolls in from the right, and fades away. Some leaves and water are displayed, along with text characters floating downstream. The text says "Another way to scroll" and is an example of a
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in the score, demonstrating 3D rendering and real-time mesh deformation. After a while, another larger polyhedron appears and the smaller polyhedron begins bouncing inside the larger.
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After this, an image will fall in from above, depicting a rider on what appears to be yet another fantasy creature. The image will hit the ground and bounce up while behaving like
986:) by Fulcrum – a remix done in 8 kilobytes of executable PC code. Released at Revision 2015 demoparty where it was ranked second. The two-dimension drawings were modelled using
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Again there is a fade out and a fade in, this time we are looking at a scene with two spheres, the words "Ten seconds to transmission" are spoken (sampled from the 1989 movie
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The next scene is a winding, fluid tunnel built up by discrete points that move towards the camera. This creates a feeling of rushing through the tunnel for the viewer.
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After a few surfaces have been displayed, a cube with animated surfaces attached comes up and spins around while translating towards and away from the camera.
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flies around in a large 3D city, leaving it and heading up right over the text "Future Crew". This was later redone by some of the previous members of
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Many techniques used by other demos, including Future Crew's own earlier work, were refined and reused in Second
Reality. The demo had a soundtrack of
241:. The demo was released to the public in October 1993. It is considered to be one of the best demos created during the early 1990s on the PC; in 1999
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After the text has floated by, again the scene changes to display a demonic-like human head (clearly inspired by the mascot
Violent Mind of the band
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The code is something like I had never seen before that perfectly represents two essential aspects of demomaking : Team work. Obfuscation.
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Internally the demo consists of 23 separated parts which allowed independent, parallel development and free selection of programming language (
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889:) by Smash Designs – Probably the most well-known and most impressive remix, being a faithful adaptation of the original demo for the
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When the image fades in, the camera is placed close to a surface changing texture every time. This is a continuation of their work in
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It comes from one of the greatest hack of all time: "Second
Reality" by Future Crew. Yes a deal was signed so I could use the music.
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ability to allocated RAM from the end of the heap: This is done using the return value of DOS malloc when too much RAM is requested.
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320:'s main musical score for the demo begins. The image then flattens and falls horizontally to become a 3D, polygonal checkerboard.
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The demo can be started with a single character command line argument "2" through "5" to start from any of the later four parts.
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927:) by Zon@ Neutr@ - Also a "real life" remix, however, this one also features the original soundtrack being performed
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the exotic video modes and the Gravis
Ultrasound preferred by Second Reality, and can be configured to the 33
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The analysis of the source code also disproved that the long-standing and popular speculation that SR uses its own
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holographic display. Released at
Demosplash 2018 demoparty where it was ranked first in the category "modern."
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software, one of the video scenes pays homage to the original demo's "3D spacecraft fly-through" part.
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speeds. Therefore, the only way to run the demo on a modern PC with little glitches is by running on
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The music has now finished its introductory notes at this point and the first melody starts. Next, a
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1004:. Released at Evoke 2016 demoparty where it was ranked second in the alternative platform category.
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285:. The degree of synchronization of the visuals with the music was highly impressive for its time.
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The tunnel fades out into some oscillating circles which soon fade into the next scene.
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917:) by N.E.V.E.R. - A remix, which shows all parts of the demo being played in real life.
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The soundtrack of this demo is used in the song "Persian
Synthesizer" by Space (2018).
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revealed a design which is built around two characteristical demoscene paradigms:
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A scene that could be described as a light show. The scenes consist of multiple
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1122:"SecondReality: Source code and data of Second Reality by Future Crew in 1993"
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Vice
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appears and bounces on the checkered surface, in perfect timing with the
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created by a member of Future Crew, but based on a painting used in a
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interacting. Moiré patterns were quite popular in demos of that time.
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recommended on the demo's configuration screen for optimal viewing.
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directly; in fact SR uses standard DOS memory management functions.
94:. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed.
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The image fades out and the final scene fades in, an image of two
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1352:"DosBox, Compatibility: Second Reality – Future Crew (1993)"
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598:"), Future Crew call the image "Ice Kingdom"; and it is an
903:) by Remedy Entertainment – Although this is a commercial
1161:"Ten seconds to transmission. Five, four three, two, one"
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While the demo code remains freely available on numerous
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on the 20th anniversary of the release on 1 August 2013.
1028:) by Equestrian Alicoders - remake with characters from
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Video footage taken during the making of Second
Reality
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voted it one of the "Top 10 Hacks of All Time". Its
1259:"Second Reality Code Review: Part 1 (Introduction)"
832:used the introduction music for the first track of
594:The image filename is "ICEKNGDM.LBM" ("Ice Kingdom
233:on July 30, 1993, where it was entered into the PC
1241:"Rumple Minze: White Magic from the Black Forest"
658:for the smooth trees and lettering at the end.
436:, which was present in most demos of the time.
963:, which contains some parts of Second Reality.
626:In the next scene, a craft reminiscent of the
312:). The screen fades to display a rendition of
1313:"Second Reality Code Review: Part 2 (Engine)"
682:with the text "Future Crew" written on them.
8:
1286:"Second Reality Code Review: Part 5 (Parts)"
945:remix, with many scenes recreated using the
858:The soundtrack of the demo was licensed for
783:sites and is now hosted with source code on
776:was later released to rectify this problem.
606:alcohol advertisement from the early 1990s.
53:Learn how and when to remove these messages
1042:) by Holo Sapiens - 3d argumented reality.
841:Tripomatic Remix By Sels "Franky Jones" F.
795:hardware directly (using its own built-in
1000:) by Bedrock Bros. - a port done for the
494:where they first introduced the 'unreal'
175:Learn how and when to remove this message
110:Learn how and when to remove this message
1202:(included with Purple Motion's JOURNEY2)
1522:Public-domain software with source code
1096:"Slashdot's "Top 10 Hacks of All Time""
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839:The introduction music was used in the
1014:) by Bedrock Bros. - a demake for the
710:analysis of SR with the now available
309:Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
7:
1527:Software using the Unlicense license
1137:"Happy 20th Birthday Second Reality"
1030:My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
865:This song is featured in the album
836:when they were known as Inearthed.
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644:as part of the benchmarking demo
221:created by the Finnish demogroup
34:This article has multiple issues.
869:(2011) in the tracks 2, 3 and 4.
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23:
1392:Sanglard, Fabien (2011-10-19).
1311:Sanglard, Fabien (2013-08-16).
1284:Sanglard, Fabien (2013-08-16).
1257:Sanglard, Fabien (2013-08-16).
834:Ubiquitous Absence Of Remission
42:or discuss these issues on the
654:is used for the buildings and
1:
1532:Software developed in Finland
1517:Formerly proprietary software
1120:Tuomi, Mika (3 August 2017).
1422:Second Reality demo download
973:) by Checkpoint – remix for
772:which caused a slow down. A
444:Magnifying and rotating head
212:Unreal ] [ - The 2nd Reality
239:computer graphics rendering
139:to comply with Knowledge's
90:the claims made and adding
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1507:Assembly language software
1460:In-browser MSDOS emulation
1438:Second Reality source code
1135:Smith, Ryan (2013-08-01).
458:I am not an atomic playboy
1428:Second Reality soundtrack
756:The demo runs best on an
737:) and development tools.
622:3D spacecraft fly-through
617:3D spacecraft fly-through
203:of Second Reality (60fps)
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824:Later uses of soundtrack
702:Technical characteristic
669:Future Crew Logo on nuts
152:may contain suggestions.
137:may need to be rewritten
1077:. pouet.net. 2011-01-02
807:. DOSBox is capable of
941:) by The Scampers – A
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1075:"Assembly 93 results"
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628:TIE/Advanced fighter
225:. It debuted at the
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1032:and original music.
967:Second Reality 2013
708:reverse engineering
388:Oscillating circles
383:Oscillating circles
336:Bouncing polyhedron
331:Bouncing polyhedron
210:(originally titled
1187:. 21 October 2021.
959:) – A demo on the
883:Second Reality C64
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1424:on scene.org
1404:
1403:
1397:. Retrieved
1387:
1376:
1367:
1356:. Retrieved
1354:. dosbox.com
1345:
1340:on scene.org
1338:2ndpatch.zip
1333:
1323:
1322:
1316:. Retrieved
1306:
1296:
1295:
1289:. Retrieved
1279:
1270:
1269:
1263:. Retrieved
1252:
1235:
1224:. Retrieved
1222:. 1993-10-05
1219:
1210:
1193:
1182:
1173:
1165:the original
1155:
1144:. Retrieved
1130:
1115:
1104:. Retrieved
1102:. 1999-12-13
1100:slashdot.org
1090:
1079:. Retrieved
1069:
1055:
1035:
1021:
1008:Holo Reality
1007:
993:
979:
966:
961:Pokémon Mini
952:
947:Actionscript
934:
920:
911:Real Reality
910:
905:benchmarking
896:
891:Commodore 64
882:
867:"Metropolis"
848:
844:
840:
833:
778:
755:
739:
735:Turbo Pascal
724:
705:
696:
693:
677:
652:Flat shading
645:
640:working for
631:
625:
604:Rumple Minze
593:
586:
574:
554:
552:
537:
534:Vector Balls
529:Vector Balls
517:
489:
487:
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427:
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371:
339:
307:
304:
301:Introduction
296:Introduction
273:composed by
271:Techno music
268:
211:
207:
206:
171:
155:
146:You can help
136:
106:
97:
74:
50:
43:
37:
36:Please help
33:
1451:youtube.com
957:Team Pokeme
758:Intel 80486
720:Obfuscation
712:source code
690:Hidden part
638:Future Crew
466:rotozooming
460:", quoting
247:source code
223:Future Crew
100:August 2014
1496:Categories
1399:2010-03-13
1358:2011-01-02
1318:2013-08-31
1291:2013-08-31
1265:2013-08-23
1226:2015-12-17
1146:2013-08-21
1106:2010-12-25
1081:2011-01-02
1047:References
980:8K Reality
929:a cappella
760:PC with a
706:In 2013 a
548:Raytracing
346:polyhedron
257:using the
201:screencast
158:March 2023
84:improve it
39:improve it
1373:"Discogs"
1141:Anandtech
1040:pouët.net
1026:pouët.net
1012:pouët.net
998:pouët.net
988:metaballs
984:pouët.net
971:pouët.net
939:pouët.net
925:pouët.net
915:pouët.net
901:pouët.net
893:platform.
887:pouët.net
809:emulating
454:pentagram
452:) with a
259:Unlicense
231:demoparty
150:talk page
88:verifying
45:talk page
1482:HQ video
1220:Demonews
975:Atari ST
855:in 1996.
781:Internet
727:assembly
716:Teamwork
434:scroller
424:Creature
243:Slashdot
227:Assembly
214:) is an
1478:YouTube
1462:by the
1394:"SHMUP"
1378:Discogs
953:SHizZLE
877:Remixes
849:Overdog
450:Kreator
314:Wendigo
82:Please
1442:GitHub
1184:GitHub
819:Legacy
805:DOSBox
785:GitHub
556:Batman
491:Unreal
368:Tunnel
363:Tunnel
281:using
275:Skaven
251:GitHub
148:. The
1512:Demos
1486:Pouet
1484:from
860:SHMUP
843:, of
793:sound
789:video
774:patch
764:or a
630:from
589:jelly
571:Water
566:Water
342:glenz
229:1993
1453:and
791:and
733:and
718:and
680:nuts
430:Ulik
277:and
219:demo
1476:on
1440:on
1430:in
847:by
813:MHz
801:CPU
770:bug
746:MMU
650:.
86:by
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