Renaissance ASCII logo by Untouchable.

Renaissance was an American PC demo group started in 1991-1992 by founding members Mosaic, C.C. Catch, Daredevil, and Tran. Image File history File links Renaissance_demoscene. ... Image File history File links Renaissance_demoscene. ... ASCII art, an artistic medium relying primarily on computers for presentation, consists of pictures pieced together from characters (preferably from the 95 printable characters defined by ASCII). ... IBM PC (IBM 5150) with keyboard and green screen monochrome monitor (IBM 5151), running MS-DOS 5. ... The demoscene is a computer sub-culture that came to prominence during the rise of the 16 bit micros (the Atari ST and the Amiga), but demos first appeared during the 8-bit era on computers such as C64 and ZX Spectrum. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ...

History and contributions

The group made several noteworthy contributions throughout its existence, not only to its own subculture, but the entire computing world as well. Most notable was the creation of PMODE by Charles Scheffold (a.k.a. Daredevil) and Thomas Pytel (a.k.a. Tran) in 1993. PMODE was a replacement for the popular DOS/4G extender. A special version named PMODE/W was designed for the Watcom compiler. PMODE is a DOS extender used in several IBM PC compatible DOS applications in the mid and late 1990s. ... Tomasz (aka Thomas) Pytel is a Polish-American programmer, better known as Tran / Renaissance in the demoscene. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... PMODE is a DOS extender used in several IBM PC compatible DOS applications in the mid and late 1990s. ... PMODE is a DOS extender used in several IBM PC compatible DOS applications in the mid and late 1990s. ...

Renaissance was also on the forefront of PC digital music software, having written the first PC-based 8-channel tracker, Composer 669, and the first combined FM+digital music tracker, CDFM. The first 32-channel tracker, MultiTracker, followed in late 1993. IBM PC (IBM 5150) with keyboard and green screen monochrome monitor (IBM 5151), running MS-DOS 5. ... ModPlug Tracker in Fast Tracker 2 color mode Tracker is the generic term for a class of software music sequencers which, in their purest form, allow the user to arrange sound samples stepwise on a timeline across several monophonic channels. ... Composer 669 was the first 8-channel tracker released for the PC. It produced . ... AdLib, Inc. ... MultiTracker is a multi-track digital sequencer, or Tracker for the DOS computer platform, written by Dan StarScream Goldstein of the American demogroup Renaissance in November of 1993. ...

Renaissance had intentions from the start to create games as well. The only well-released game to their credit was Zone 66, a shareware top-down shooter game, published by Epic MegaGames in early 1993. C.C. Catch also composed music for Epic's 1994 robot fighting game, One Must Fall: 2097. Zone 66 is a top down shooting video game released in 1993 for the PC, that initially was released using the Shareware model. ... Look up shareware in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Epic Games, formerly known as Epic MegaGames and also known as Epic, is a computer game development company based in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. ...

There was much mystery as to Tran's participation in the group. Rumors surfaced at Assembly '93, as he and other members were in attendance to enter a demo but never completed it. Months later, the rumors were confirmed as Tran released his first independent demo, Hell, and announced his departure from Renaissance. He continued releasing PMODE and other demos independently. Overview of the Assembly 2004 party hall. ...

Renaissance members

Founding members

• C.C. Catch^[1] (Kenny Chow aka Chou) — musician [1]
• Daredevil (Charles Scheffold) — coder/sysop/organizer
• Mosaic (Ray Lee) — musician
• Tran (Thomas Pytel) — coder [2]

Tomasz (aka Thomas) Pytel is a Polish-American programmer, better known as Tran / Renaissance in the demoscene. ...

Other members

• CyberStrike (Josh Jensen) — coder
• Dark Avenger (Tony Proios)
• Digital Sculptor
• El Diablo
• Leviathan (Andy Carlson) — musician
• Nemesis (Andy Wise) — musician
• Mr. Happy
• Oman (John Hood) — graphics
• Radioisotope
• Ryan Cramer — Cramer was a tracker and also ran one of their main distribution BBSes in Virginia called Data Connection. As owner of a working BBS, Data Connection also acted as the U.S. distribution point for many European demogroups as well. He is also known for writing one of the few group profiles on Renaissance among other articles with famous sceners published in DemoNews #75. He now runs Ryan Cramer Design, LLC, a creative design agency located in Atlanta, Georgia.
• StarScream (Dan Goldstein) — coder
• Untouchable
• Whitefiend — graphics
• White Shadow (Dave Cooper) — coder
• Zeek (Rich Geldreich)

ModPlug Tracker in Fast Tracker 2 color mode Tracker is the generic term for a class of software music sequencers which, in their purest form, allow the user to arrange sound samples stepwise on a timeline across several monophonic channels. ... Ward Christensen and the first public Bulletin Board System, CBBS A Bulletin Board System or BBS is software that allows users to connect to the computer system on which the software is installed. ... Official language(s) English Capital Richmond Largest city Virginia Beach Area  Ranked 35th  - Total 42,793 sq mi (110,862 km²)  - Width 200 miles (320 km)  - Length 430 miles (690 km)  - % water 7. ... Ward Christensen and the first public Bulletin Board System, CBBS A Bulletin Board System or BBS is software that allows users to connect to the computer system on which the software is installed. ... Demogroups are groups of demosceners, who make demos, products of a computer audio-visual artform known as the demoscene. ... Raphael was famous for depicting illustrious figures of the Classical past with the features of his Renaissance contemporaries. ... The Hornet Archive was a file repository for releases and resources from the worldwide PC demoscene. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Significant releases

• Black Glass 2 — demo (1992)
• Amnesia — demo (1992)
• Composer 669 — tracker (1992)
• Zone 66 — game (1993), published by Epic Games
• MultiTracker — tracker (1993)
• Nothing On — musicdisk (1994)
• Renaissance Music Player (1994)
• Epidemic — musicdisk (1994), co-op with iCE
• PMODE
• PMODE/W (for Watcom C/C++)

A frame part of an animation displayed in real time. ... Zone 66 is a top down shooting video game released in 1993 for the PC, that initially was released using the Shareware model. ... A music disk is a term which originated from the demoscene. ... iCE Advertisements is a digital art group formed in 1991. ... The Watcom C compiler was distinguished amongst DOS developers by the high execution speed of the compiled code it produced and for supporting intels 32bit 386 protected mode. ...

External links

• Renaissance demoscene releases indexed on Pouet.
• Demonews Issue 75, December 1994 — Features an article by Ryan Cramer meeting fellow Renaissance members.
• Renaissance modules at AMP

The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ...

Notes

1. ^ Not to be confused with C.C.Catch, a.k.a. Caroline Müller, the German pop musician. Kenny lifted his handle from one of her album covers with the thought that Americans wouldn't recognize the singer's name.