Games - Timeless

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	Games - Timeless

Timeless is a demo running on the PC, written by Tran (aka Thomas Pytel) in 1994. Tran released the source to the demo in a file TIMELESS.ZIP which is readily available on the internet. The source is entirely in intel i386 assembly code. It features extensive use of unwound loops and complex use of instruction registers to reduce cpu cycles as much as possible. All data files, for artwork and for the graphics effects, appear in the source code as data statements. The demo features a DOS extender PMODE.ASM which evolved into a standalone product Tran licensed for money.

The screenshot below is from a work in progress linux port of the demo, written in 'c' and using the SDL library, and therefore portable to other architectures. More than a decade after the original demo was written computers are so powerful the optimizations needed then are no longer necessary. The value of the demo now is in its artistic merits, which many still find worthwhile to look at. The screenshot doesn't do the demo justice, imagine the background is morphing and sliding sideways, while colors are changing and other objects move around the screen.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Timeless (demo) ]

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