Most participants are Finns, but they'll do fine with English instructions, I'm sure. We're inclusive, and gladly accept international participants, of course.
What you do not need to do:
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You don't need to fork, clone, or download this library. A snapshot "starter package" will be provided at the event. Using this development version at the event would be counter-productive.
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You don't need to take a preparatory programming course or worry about knowing how to program or do graphics. We'll learn as we do stuff at the event.
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You don't have to practice with the library... Perhaps better not to. I might have a couple of hours time right before the workshop which could revamp anything or everything in the library - for the better, of course, but it might confuse you if you had done a lot of work on the current one.
What you absolutely need:
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You need your own laptop and power supply to participate. Go shop if necessary. It doesn't need to be super powerful - a very basic or refurbished used laptop will do just fine.
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Your laptop needs free system space for tools even if you don't install anything beforehand. It is not fun to spend the workshop time just figuring out what to delete in order to make space for tools.
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You need headphones (any kind will do). There will be many participants previewing their demos each with their own audio track - no, we don't want to hear them all at once from loudspeakers at the workshop area!
What you should do if you have the time:
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Download and install the larger platforms and tools that are required: see the list and short notes below for your laptop. We'll do this at the event before going forward, but there is a lot to download and the wireless network at the workshop area might not be set up yet when we start. The more people have installed beforehand, the less time we need to spend downloading at the party!
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On Windows you first need: Windows subsystem for linux (WSL). The default Ubuntu distribution for WSL seems to be fine. Follow the official installation instructions carefully and make sure you have a normal user account and not use only a super-user / root account on WSL. Instead, use 'sudo' commands when doing maintenance inside your WSL.
The following guide seems useful: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install
Then, for the rest of this story and the workshop, you will be using WSL which is essentially Linux.
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On Mac you may or may not end up needing Homebrew and GNU toolset. I'll have more information when I see somebody using a Mac at the workshop. We'll figure it out, no worries.
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On all systems (WSL, Linux, Mac) you need: GNU Software development tools (at least GNU make, bash, sed), Java run-time environment, ruby interpreter
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You need also some proper text editor for programming (e.g., VS Code, Emacs, Vim, Sublime text, Atom, ...).
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Would be helpful: zopfli
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Could be needed: Chrome browser (the only browser I can verify to work with my codes today because that's the one I normally use)
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Probably some small things that I forgot here, but the above are the most massive downloads that have been a bit of a nuisance on earlier workshop start evenings
Software installations can be tricky - don't worry if it doesn't work on the first try. If you don't find installation help before the workshop, we'll try to install everything together when we start.
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What you can do to make things go even smoother:
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Plan a concept for your entry: What kind of idea or mood would you like to aim for? What is the main idea you want your audience to grasp? Mentally prepare to let go of lots of details or execute your concept in a different way than could be done in a perfect world! This workshop deliberately brings tough constraints to visual elements, and we only have a couple of days and nights to bring your concept alive.
Examples:
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Demoilijan Käsikirja (PDF, In finnish) is a general newcomer guide to demoscene (in Finnish only). In a short workshop, it is best to aim at one scene (20-40 seconds) in which a story can be told by putting together quite simple graphical elements. Start with the idea / mood / story. I promise we can get creative with the implementation using just cubes and spheres.
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My own design documents for my latest 1k intro. The main idea is on the topmost paper with a storyboard, timeline, and enough visual detail to carry out.
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My own design documents for the 4k intro that was an intro to an intro course in graphics and later became the base code for this workshop. The course logo "TIEA311" was a main 'asset' that needed careful thought and consideration. Underneath there is once again a paper with a timeline or 'sync track'.
Ideas happen in your mind. I recommend putting them on paper first. When we later go to the computer, the paper helps us to not lose focus on the ideas.
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Create a preliminary soundtrack using SoundBox, or have a musical friend do one for you. Save often as URL. Do not use any recognizable melodies or pieces from any copyrighted songs! It is safest to just do your own, completely original soundtrack.
SoundBox must be used because the lmad1 library is wired to use it as the sound engine.
Mentally prepare to let go of parts and instruments also in the soundtrack. Two reasons: To keep the final demo interesting with graphics, its running length might have to be reduced. To be able to participate in the 4k competition category, there is a hard trade-off between graphics content and audio content. They must both suffer to make an entry in 4k. The song doesn't have to be very long or sophisticated - we're here to have fun. Just press some of the white keys in sequence, it's fine...
Read the help page of SoundBox: https://sb.bitsnbites.eu/help.html
Check out a video tutorial about it: https://youtu.be/JnJ5bUT6s8Q
The video is titled "How to make a soundtrack for your first demoscene intro using the SoundBox soft synth tracker" ... I think showing some things in practice will help a newbie get tracking more comfortably and to avoid some common problems encountered in earlier workshops. I hope it makes the process smoother for you!
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Check out earlier productions that have been created at the workshop, so you'll know what to expect, more or less. You may contrast these to high-end 4k intros by experienced programmers using their mad skills and more elaborate tools than my simple library. We can't suddenly become pros at a new thing. This workshop is for your very first step towards demo programming, so you'll start with simple things that you can master. Crawl before you walk or run, so to speak... That said, you are allowed to do more elaborate stuff at the workshop and possibly get help for what you try to accomplish -- but always with lesser priority than first-timers using the lmad1 library!
Direct links to videos of some earlier lmad1-productions in Instanssi streams (mind your ears and speakers - audio tracks make some unpleasant surprises here):
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Entries from 2 to 7 at Instanssi 2023 were made in the workshop: Full compo stream in YouTube
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Instanssi 2020 had numerous workshop productions, too: YouTube
Further examples of very creative ideas with limited number of elements, many executed during a 3-day party workshop:
- Assembly Summer 2019 One Scene compo: YouTube
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Looking forward to Instanssi 2024 and this year's workshop,
Paavo "The Old Dude" Nieminen