We Need Coding Tutorials!

Written by Adok

Many people complain that nowadays the quality of code in demos and intros is worse than it was some years before. Coders tend to be rather sloppy at optimizing, and it also seems that many do not even know basic techniques such as synchronizing the animations with the music and skipping frames in order to make a demo run at the same speed on every computer that meets the system requirements. But those who complain overlook a fact: We do not even have a tutorial that explains these techniques to the beginners. However, that would be very important, as there are so many coders in the PC scene today that, unlike in the past, it is not possible to give knowledge away from "mouth to mouth", and not everyone is able to imagine everything himself. This is especially so because at the same time the demands for being a good coder are higher than ever. Coders of today do not only have to know about the basic techniques, but also have to be able to code a full 3D engine, fuss around with the peculiarities of Win32 coding etc. That you usually do not have to write a graphic and a music engine of your own because of IMS, Midas, Direct X and PTC, is only a small recompensation.

There is a severe lack of coding tutorials in the scene. The Asphixia VGA Trainer series is still the widest spread tutorial for beginners. But it was made in the first half of the decade and therefore is outdated. Some things which are covered in the VGA Trainers are already obsolete, and many things which are obligatory nowadays are not even mentioned.

We need a new tutorial for beginners, just like the old VGA Trainers, but up-to-date and maybe a bit more extensive. If that is too much work, coding articles about the standard techniques of today's demos would suffice at the beginning, too.

Another good thing would be vastly commented sources of small but full productions, such as 4k intros. They would provide some hints about size optimizing as well as information on how to put effects and music together to an intro.

If you want to write such tutorials or release commented sources of your intros, Hugi would be ready to publish them.

- adok^hugi

"smells like garlic? sounds like whizzter."