AKA “What happens when a small group of ST demo people just want to have some fun together?”

Originally published at its own minisite, together with all the releases and then in printed form in issue #161 of Abbuc magazine

The premise

Demo parties are a great concept. Evolving from people’s desire to do something more organised than just booking a venue and letting people in to set up their machines. Instead, people could expect to see better installation, in-house sleeping facilities (preferably with actual beds), food, an actual PA system, competitions, prizes, and so much more. People have raised the quality bar very high with demo parties like Assembly, Breakpoint, Revision, and so on.

They are also much more complicated and difficult to organise. And of course people have expectations from the organisers. In some cases, people who are professionals are called in to offert experience and advice. But, even with smaller parties the expectations are still quite high.

A group of friends, mostly UK based, thought about this, and coupled with the fact that there are virtually no Atari (ST) parties in their country. So they started organising small get-togethers, inviting a really tiny amount of people. Any concept of demo party was mostly not considered as to minimise stress and expectations (both from organiser(s) and attendees). Tathack was the first event back in 2020 - you can read about it here. Psycho hack happened in 2023 and it was slightly larger.

Every time the main organiser changed, so it wouldn’t feel like a committment to them, and reduce the stress of the same people organising over and over. And so, for 2025, another person stepped in to organise the next iteration: Buxton Bytes, initally nicknamed ‘‘Retreathack’’, was renamed to its final form by the people, demonstrating the spirit of the event: Excluding the booking of the location most of the responsibilities were diluted/delegated amongst the people.

So, from all the above, the goals of this event were set:

• It’s not a demo party. Nobody has central responsibility of everything. People were free to step up and suggest activities, and then commit themselves to them

• A friendly atmosphere. By removing the competitions altogether people were immedately more relaxed and less tense (because, all things being equal, competition brings out certain traits out of people that can raise uneasiness)

• Back to the roots of scene gatherings. More anarchic, more DIY, more freedom to people

• Small by default. While it’s great to meet many people during these events, it does imply that greater spaces are required, which goes against the spirit of the above points. This might sound elitistic (or ‘‘1337’’ if one prefers), but it was the price to pay.

Preparing for the event

In practice, there was not much to prepare. Once the location and date was agreed with a select group of people who would potentially attend, very little else was required. Even hyping up the event was not in the mindset of people.

(Of course the ‘‘Cracktro showcase’’ idea was developed, and then advertised. But more on that later)

Another attendee, gwEm, offered to cook a traditional English breakfast for all people for the two mornings the event would be happening. This of course happened spontaneously and without any pressure.

As the days were getting closer, some people got in touch with the organisers and offered sponsored prizes. Of course it was all appreciated, but it was made clear that there weren’t any competitions, so anything donated to the party would be distrubuted among the people in a ‘’take what you want’’ spirit.

First to step in was Data Airlines, a quite established music label with many years of presence, offering demo scene musicians (and not only) a way to publish their work professionally. They very graciously sent us a nice collection of vinyl LPs from their back catalogue.

Then, approximately two weeks before the gathering, Atari themselves announced a new line of sauces!. People were very quick to react, and a full set of sauces was ordered from the online shop. gwEm again stepped up to order the sauces, but we all agreed that we’ll reimburse him for this.

Cracktro showcase

Most of the attendees being seasoned demo sceners weren’t just going to go empty handed to the party. But on the other hand, creating full demos is a very demanding activity. So some of the organisers devised a scheme that would bridge the gap. Namely, to invite people to produce the earliest form of demos: cracktros. Surely everyone by now has seen a cracked game, and those early flashy screens that pirates put at the start of the game. Those were usually simple affairs that conveyed some information to the player (and give them some options in many cases).

To make things even more accessible to people, an idea was suggested to distribute a ‘‘pack’’ that contained the source and assets of old cracktros, ready to be assembled. So then it would be a simple matter to produce something (at least simpler than creating something from scratch).

Then, another idea came forth: What if this was opened to the people, with an invite to non-attendees to submit cracktros remotely? A small invitation was coded shortly and spread (eventually it found its way to Pouet: https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=103056).

Another thing that was left ambiguous (deliberately) was that submissions could be turned in eponymously or anonymously. This meant that people were free to come up with fantasy group names, make a cracktro of their favorite group from back in the day, or even assume fake identities and turn in joke productions. Everything was on the table, and the gloves were off. Barring profanity and offensive entries, pretty much everything was accepted.

A small note: again since this was not a demo party, nobody felt the pressure to adhere to the old rule that everything submitted would be inadvertedly released no matter what. The creators had the right to withdraw their entries if they wished so. And in fact two cases of this did happen. But again, no questions asked, the entries were removed from the distrubution archive sent out to people (although they were originally shown).

This immediately inspired people, and many committed to creating something for the showcase (as this was not going to be a competition, no voting was to take place, and no prizes were to be handed out as a consequence of ranking). Of course, the expectations from the organisers was low, as many times people pledge to produce something for a demo party, only to end up not submitting anything.

However, before the event started around 15-20 submissions were received, which largely exceeded expectations.

The actual event

Friday

As is usual, things started slowly. People turned up at the location after the middle of the day, driving from several places of the UK, or from the airport in some cases.

The Atari sauces still haven’t arrived, and after a few phone calls during the last days leading to the event, it was promised that the package would arrive on site on Saturday morning. Of course there were no guarantees, but it was the best they could promise, so there was little choice.

Everyone said their hellos, hugged, exchanged stories about their travels. Then proceeded to set up the space the way it looked it would make sense for the duration of the event. Supermarket trips were planned before and after the initial meet-up, just to get the essentials, and of course provisions for the planned breakfast. Those who were going to stay i n the cottage chose their beds. And mostly, recovering from the trip with some drinks in hand.

Meanwhile, some people started planning the details of how the cracktro showcase was going to happen. What hardware to use? At the beginning an FPGA implementation of the ST was considered - which would simplify things a lot, but was put aside as STEs were available, and with the right cables and converters to hook up on the large TV in the main hall. Streaming was still an open issue, as some people brought capture devices but on the other hand the quality wasn’t the best.

The day ended with a demo show, in which quite a few known and unknown demos were shown, during which people asked technical questions, spoke their minds about them, which of course led to quite a few interesting discussions often touching the philosophical.

In the meantime, people were still sending cracktros for the showcase. As is the custom, a large part of the entries arrvies during the final days, and even hours. So this was not a surprise. At the end of the day approximately 32 entries have been received.

This did raise some concerns, as this could potentially turn out to be a quite lengthy showcase for a single sitting (the submissions were coming in with no sight of the rate slowing down). Therefore it was decided to show 10 entries (which became 12), while the rest would be shown the next day.

So, all in all, a tiresome day (due to the trip) that ended up quite plesant (due to the people).

Saturday

After a few relaxing hours of sleep (not too few, but not that many), people woke up to a pleasant sunny morning.

The mood was again quite pleasant, with people preparing bevereges (tea being the most popular of course, after all, this is the UK!) and exchanging small talk in spontaneously formed groups.

In the meantime, chef gwEm was hard at work preparing breakfast for 12 people: Baked beans, mushrooms, bacon, sausages and black pudding (courtesy of none other than Adam Gilmore!), hash browns, scrambled eggs. In other words, what the British call ‘‘Full English’’ or ‘‘Fry-up’’. This obviously is an important meal for them, as it provides lots of nutrition and calories to last them most of the work day. In comparison, lunch is a much lighter meal, consisting traditionally of sandwiches, just something to keep them going until dinner time.

This was a quite filling and satisfying meal, especially for the non British who aren’t used to such extravagant meals to start their day!

Near the end of breakfast, a very pleasant surpise - a very smiling person came to one of the cottages window and pointed at a cardboard bot. The sauces have arrived! Everyone’s spirit lifted! They all started looking at the fancy boxes and reading the description of the sauces. This was a very pleasant way to end breakfast.

As told many times by now, this event was not a demo party, there was nothing special planned. No DJ sets, seminars, presentations (although two were announced by people prior to the party, they did not materialise), no time table. So, people were free to make their own fun. Some kept working on their cracktros for their showcase. Others made impromptu trips to Buxton for a stroll around the town, going to a pub (unavoidable) to drink a few beers and have early dinner. The foreign people sampled one of the most famous delicacies: Fish and chips. Finally, more trips to the supermarket for some more provisions.

After all that excitement, the evening has arrived, which could only mean one thing: showcase time!

The people who were in charge of gathering the submissions and showing them decided that showing everything and streaming everything online for the remote people would degrade the experience for the attendees and provide poor quality for everyone. Therefore, no stream in parallel.

Of course some people complained about this, and took the situation on their hands. Literally, one person pointed a phone at the screen and started streaming, using a makeshift stand to hold the camera still (which involved a pizza box, of all things).

Regarding the productions themselves, it was more or less as predicted. Some people turned in productions anonymously that looked intentionally bad, some people sent productions that were made with care and respect. And everything else inbetween. It was all quite pleasant, varied, and kept the people entertained. Indeed many people afterwards openly admitted that this was the most fun they’ve had in a long time.

With that over, people were once again free to do what they felt like doing.

And, of course, the submissions kept turning up, even after the showcase.

Sunday

No major surprises that day. gwEm made a banger of a brekfast yet again. But this time it was augmented by the Atari sauces, which made the rounds; 12 people trying to sample 10 sauces at the same time meant quite some bottle passing activity. By general admission, people were pleasantly surprised by the sauces. Most were expecting absolutely foul products, but they were all absolutely fine.

This was the first event to ever feature Atari sauces too - another first for this event!

In the afternoon, people agreed to do a non-phone stream and show all the entries of the past few days again to the streaming audience.

The submissions were still turning up.

But all this had to wait for dinner, which consisted of a BBQ with burgers, chicken and sausages. And, of course, plenty of Atari sauce!

Afterwards, one final showing and streaming of the remaining entries was done.

And then yet another small batch of entries appeared. So another screening/streaming happened.

After that, it was decided that it was enough. If more entries turned up, they’d be released after the event was over.

Phew! Finally everyone was free to enjoy the rest of the night as they see fit. By this point the first few departures happened; people had flights to catch, or were working the next day. But most stayed the night.

Monday

It was finally departure time. It was expected to vacate the premises by noon, so people started gathering their belongings, packing their Ataris, loading their gear in cars. Then people started saying their goodbyes, hugged, promised to keep in touch, and left with the usual post-gathering comedown, tired but wishing there was more of this.

In retrospect

How did the experiment go? Let us review the goals that were set out and comment on them.

‘‘It’s not a demo party’’: This was actually spot on. Nobody felt like being an at actual demo party. No compos meant that everyone was relaxed and chill. Most people worked on something for the showcase, but with the absence of voting, ranking and prizes, everything happened in a friendly spirit instead of the usual demo party secrecy and defensiveness. Goal achieved, no doubt about it.

‘‘A friendly atmosphere’’: As stated above, there was little to no hint of people acting strange. At this point, a small disclaimer: Nobody implies that demo parties are not friendly. But at the same time there is always some tension at demoparties due to competitions and expectations. Buxton Bytes was pretty close to 100% good vibes. Also worth mentioning is that the stress levels weren’t completely zero; after all, the people who assumed responsibility had felt some stress. Which is normal, but at some times it could also make them feel annoyed. Nothing too game breaking of course, but it still should be pointed out. (it’s human nature of course - not everyone can get along with everyone 100%)

‘‘Back to the roots of scene gatherings’’: Check. No planning, people were given the freedom to relax or work on things.

‘‘Cracktro Showcase’’: A totally unexpected success. 49 entries were recived (excluding the two invite intros that were released before the party), 47 of which were released. To bring this into perspective: The last edition of Sillyventure counted around 41 demo releases, but across all platforms (Atari 800, Atari ST/STE, Atari Falcon, Atari Jaguar, Atari 7800, Atari Lynx, Portfolio). Buxton Bytes had a single target platform. Therefore, by any measure, the showcase performed amazingly.

In the e-mail submissions from people there was usually a note of gratitude for the organisation of such a showcase. Some people came out of ‘‘retirement’’ after many years just to submit something. Some people felt quite at ease to submit something simple that would very likely not dare to submit to other demo parties, in fear of looking to simplistic (or ‘’lame’’ as is the usual juvenile reaction). In some cases people went so far as to form new groups (full with websites etc) just to release something for this event. This made the people who were in charge of the showcase feel humbled from all the gratitude, positivity and good vibes. An experience to remember for sure.

Therefore, as far as everyone is concered, the Buxton Bytes experiemnt was a success. Or course this doesn’t mean that the concept of demo parties should be scrapped and everyone should switch to this instead. By all means, there’s plenty of room for both formats to co-exist.

Atari pople are getting old, that is the cold truth. Not all is having fun at (sometimes) crowded (sometimes) loud parties. This was something that was overheard in discussion during this event. Most people present just wanted to have a good time with their fellow Atari mates, while they still are able.

One thing’s sure, no matter one’s preferences on the matter: Atari is still alive and kicking (in people’s hearts) and will continue to do so as long as there’s people.

In loving memory of Torsten ‘m0dmate’ Keltsch, who would have for sure loved to be present in such a meeting.

May the dirt that embraces you be light.