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LNX Presents
====> Retroaction Redux <====
a demo released at
====> Evoke 2026 <====
Credits
=======
Lycan : Direction, graphics
Nnorm : Code (Postprocessing)
Xtrium : Code (Engine), music, graphics
Release notes
=============
xtrium on the keys.
Whew, what a ride ! I started my journey with Vulkan just two years ago, when
I was asked to teach it to my students - Angar0s can tell you the first months
were hectic as hell. Coming from a long time OpenGL user this was a massive
change in paradigm, but I wouldn't go back for a million bucks !
Four months ago, I decided it was time to stop being so afraid of raytracing
pipelines, and so I (rather painstakingly) implemented it in my toy engine,
which at that point was nothing more than a user-friendly-ish API to open a
window and draw stuff on screen.
And then I got carried away. What started as "let's try this raytraced GI"
stuff quickly became "how about we just path-trace all the things", and when it
became clear the demo we wanted to build wasn't doable in the time frame...
I, once again, was visited by my old friend Retroaction. To be fair, it's not
the first time I've wanted to recreate my very first entry to my very first
demoparty, and I've probably made about a dozen soundtrack remixes, but this
one felt right, and I finally had a tech stack I was happy about, so I set to
build an editor.
Actual work on the demo started somewhere around mid-June, but only really
ramped up in late July. Lycan really outdid herself with the assets in such a
short time frame, and Nnorm dived in with some post-processing effects, papers
that really helped get to the point we're at, and his unwavering support and
general adorableness, as always. Bit of a personal sidenote here, but guys,
I'm so glad to have you around !
So, there it is.
18 years ago, back in Vulkanhalle (fitting name, if you ask me), three randos
just set their computers to a table next to our dear Sir Garbagetruck, got to
work and released what in retrospect was a rather dull linux 32k intro, even
though the size limit wasn't really looked at, it's just that we didn't know
to use assets. But while Wiz and RX (of Trolls in the Shadows) followed their
own journey, mine kept close to the demoscene, to which I owe so much.
Today, with LNX, we release Retroaction Redux. What I would've wanted to make
if I had the skills back then. And really, I'm kinda proud about the results!
I met close friends there. Got jobs thanks to it. Found the love of my life
there. More generally, I learnt so much along the way, both technically and
about myself, and for all of that, I'll forever be grateful.
Here's to 18 more years !
-xtrium out
