Very few things showcase programming skills like good old 4k “Oldskool” Demo (a.k.a. 4k Intro) contests.

Every year, our New Year party turns into Demoscene for a while: we review submissions, and award winners of our annual 4k Demo contest. The contest is announced few months before the New Year party, so the contestants have ample time to prepare. Entry conditions are very simple: a) the demo must run in a mainstream browser, b) size of its executable code must not exceed 4,096 bytes, and c) the demo must prominently display either “CyberHULL” text, or our logo (ideally, should be “based” on it).

One thing to understand here is that, contrary to, say, “megademos”, the emphasis is on programming skills, not on visuals: the X-Mas tree you see below may look… well, strange and unimpressive (if not ugly!), but the thing is that said tree was generated using mathematical function! That is the kind of tricks that one has to resort to to cram the code into 4k. Pure display of programming might! Ideally, hardcore programming and beautiful aesthetics should go hand in hand — that’s what usually translates to high marks and, ultimately, contest wins.