In June 2000 Popsy Team, a group of French demoscene coders and artists released a new PC demo called VIP 2. The demo was meant to serve as an invitation to fellow demosceners to attend the Very Important Party 2 being held that year. Due to an incredible fusion of 3D effects and clever visual synchronisation with the lyrics and music, it gained notoriety of its own and currently sits at #42 in the Pouet highest rated PC demos of all time.
The original PC demo was written in C++ and was one of the first to start using OpenGL and dedicated graphics cards for effects. Until that time most demos had used their own custom software rendering code, but the advent of GPUs and 3D gaming was causing technology to shift dramatically and the demoscene reflected this. Fast forward to 2012 and the company Onan Games have released the Mandreel Framework. Mandreel is a set of compilers and IDE tools that allow developers to port their native C++ and Objective C code to JavaScript with WebGL and in some cases Canvas rendering. Although originally conceived and primarily used to port iOS games such as Halfbrick Studios Monster Dash to the Web, Mandreel has also found a new calling in converting C++ / OpenGL demos to HTML5 including the VIP 2 demo showcased here.
So sit back, turn up the music and enjoy the show! And when you’re done there are plenty of other classic PC demos to be found on the same site.