I really need to talk about Demoscene more. I'm not much of a creator, but I love Demoparties and Compos.
Starting a thread about my two favorite categories: 4k and 64k.
These are computer programs that are restricted to a maximum file size (in kilobytes!), but must also remain graphically impressive.
Let's start with a crowd pleaser: the timeless by Mercury.
Mandatory reading on this one: https://datunnel.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-story-of-urs.html
And now let's watch something 16x smaller. A 4 kilobyte demo: The vanishing of Ashlar by NuSan
You can download this one too: https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=85684
Another favorite 4k of mine: Fan_tastic - Rebels & Alcatraz
As always, you can download this one: https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=54538
Shamelessly plugging my own site now, where you can generate 50-video YouTube playlists of Demoscene content, sorted by type, including 4k and 64k: https://www.prods.page/
I'll keep updating this thread in the future with more of my favorites. Might start a separate Wild thread too.
@Alex this is what happens when you take a Fourier transform of NYC and then introduce compression artifacts
I am no creator but I am a tech enthusiast, and I remember first being exposed to the demo scene with 8088 CORRUPTION and the farbrausch demos near the turn of the century. I watched "the timeless" with slackjawed joy, thank you for sharing.
This entire animation is contained in a 64 kilobyte EXE file. Everything you see and hear is constrained to 64k!
You can run it on your own computer!
https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=62935