Talks

The DRM of Pacman

Copy protections are everywhere. On music, movies, games, pretty much everything that is digital. But where did it start ? Not on your C64 in 1982 or any other home computer from that era but many of the R&D that we still see today found its origin in the Arcades of the early 80s. This seminar covers the copy protection scheme's of way back then and how they influence the world today... From angry letters over encryption to planned system suicide. Presented by Peter "FRaNKy" Smets.

Sceners' Panel

Got a question for people involved in the demoscene? Wondering what it's like to run an event like Demosplash? Or maybe you're just curious about what the interaction between people who watch demos, people who make demos, and people who show demos? Our Sceners' Panel will include TBA, who will talk briefly and answer your questions.

Voice of Lisa

Not all demohacking is software and systems coding; there can be a hardware hacking component as well, especially when working with retro platforms. For our most recent demo, cmucc wrote the second demo for the Apple Lisa: Introducing the iLisa, which won first place in Assembly 2012's wild division. In the process, we put together a custom sound card for the Lisa, and a driver for it. Members of the club will talk about the design process for the card, the driver, and the demo.

Workshops

Amateur Radio Licensing Exam

Amateur radio has been around for decades, and refuses to go away. If you're interested in becoming a part of this communication medium, Carnegie Tech Radio Club will be offering a license exam for anyone interested, Demosplash attendee or not. There will be a $15 fee for this event. more information

Open Demo Hacking Session

Bring your own ideas and works-in-progress to tinker with! We will talk briefly about demohacking, and then provide a space for you to hack on submissions for our demo contest. Members of the club will be on hand to answer questions, and in addition, both Internet access and power will be provided.

openFrameworks

openFrameworks is an excellent tool for early demo programming and mocking up ideas. It is implemented as C++ libraries, and so most likely runs on your computer. openFrameworks is free software released under the MIT License. We will be giving an introduction to this tool and then going through a simple project.

Processing

If C++ isn't your thing, another great choice for starting to program demos is Processing. Processing gained substantial popularity due to its use with the Arduino platform. Built on Java, it can run on everything that supports the jvm, and comes with its own IDE. Processing is free software released under the GPL and LGPL licenses. We will also give an introduction to this tool and a simple project.

Retro Gaming

Back for more this year is our Retro Gaming session! Cmucc has an extremely large collection of retro hardware, including NES, SNES, Sega, C64, Atari, and Amigas. Come by for a bit of nostalgia and to re-experience the early days of gaming.

Screenings

Moleman 2: The Demoscene

In the 1980's, something changed the world forever. Computer technology, mostly due to the appearance of affordable Commodore 64's, entered households worldwide, providing the opportunity for everyone to create digital art. Moleman shows you now a digital subculture, where artists don't use always the latest technology, but their aim is also to bring out the best from 30 year-old computer technics.

Continuous Rave Demos

"If Pac-Man had affected us as kids,
we'd all be running around in dark rooms,
munching pills and listening to repetitive electronic music."

-- Marcus Brigstocke

Does that sort of thing sound appealing? This might be for you. Come explore the, uh, darker, louder, even more epilepsy-inducing side of demos we don't want to torture everyone with in the main screeings. Leave the pills at home (except maybe some aspirin!), but we'll supply the demo awesomeness, glow sticks, and Pesi Max.