pouët.net

False Dimension by Pers' Wastaiset Produktiot [web]

PWP presents in 2012:

"FALSE DIMENSION"

A 2286-byte demo for the C-64.

Code, music & design by Viznut.

The 155 pictures in this demo are generated by a chaotic process based on
adding pseudorandom "inkblots" into a byte table. As the pseudorandom seeds
are only 2 bytes long, I could easily have put in like 1000 pictures while
still keeping it under 4 KB. However, there wasn't enough variety in the
search space, so a considerably larger number of pictures would have made
the show quite boring.

An outline of the algorithm:
1. Initialize the random number generator with a 16-bit seed.
2. Get two random ranges for random numbers. Fill the upper half of the
   64x32-byte table with random numbers from the first range and the lower
   half with numbers from the second range.
3. Add a randomized amount (8..72) of random-sized, random-intensity blots
   into random positions (probability function prefers the center of the
   framebuffer).
4. Render the bytetable into the final framebuffer (40x25) by interpreting
   the bytes as intensity values.
5. Repeat steps 2 and 3.
6. Render the bytetable into the final framebuffer by turning the pixel
   black where the bytetable value is >=128.
7. Smooth down the edges between black and non-black with a set of 16
   neighbor-sensitive blocks.

In order to find good pictures, I just rendered the whole search space
(65536 pictures) into 256 thumbnail pages. In subsequent excursions into the
potential of pseudorandom, especially with longer seeds, there will be need
for a specialized interactive tool with powerful search and sort
functionality (especially with the option to search for pictures that are
nearly similar to another picture or an arbitrary model).