Since the 1980s, I've been closely following the demoscene, and I think I've observed the developments reasonably well. However, when it comes to the demo-intro distinction, I find myself a bit confused. It feels like we need a proper definition now. This confusion can especially be seen in search tools. For instance, if you try to list demos or intros on the ZX Spectrum platform, you'll encounter similar productions, showing when people adding productions they just pick these at random which also limits the function of these categories.

Here's how I understood it:

- Demo: A work consisting of several segments, centered around a common theme, with a coherent narrative, and not looping.

- Intro: Usually a few/single effect or screen-based product that loops. It doesn’t need to precede another product.

- Cracktro: Essentially the same as an intro but serves as the introduction to a main production.

Yet, while browsing through categories during searches, I don’t see such a clear correlation. Can someone who truly understands this clarify?

I think the intro/demo distinction originated from the Amiga scene. But is this distinction as evident on other platforms? On the Amiga, anything up to 64k (also .COM limit of DOS) is considered an intro, and beyond that, it’s a demo, end of story. But what about other platforms?

For example, does file size matter today? some demos are smaller in file size than some intros. Some intros contain multiple effects and are even sequenced. What size counts as "intro" size on different platforms?

A 256b demo might not exist, but on 8-bit platforms, there could be 1k or 4k demos. However, there might also be 32kb intros…

Maybe a more formal definition encompassing multiple platforms could be introduced for the demo/intro distinction?

I know this is kind of an academic question. Thank you for reading and happy new year.

On the PC platform, an intro is a size-limited demo. There are no distinctions between the contents of a demo and an intro.

An intro is, generally, just smaller in size than a demo. The easiest distinction is if it's limited to a fixed size and entered into a competition or category stipulating that size, but outside of that there are no clear rules for categorization.

Historically, there was no real distinction between intros and demos and the terms were used somewhat interchangeably. A good example is "Demons are forever". It's explicitly referred to as a demo in its own scroll text, but it would probably be categorized as an intro today. At the time of its release, it was included on various packdisks with names like "Intro Collection" and "Amazing Demos".

> Demo: A work consisting of several segments, centered around a common theme, with a coherent narrative, and not looping.

This also applies a lot of size limited intros on numerous platforms. Many 64k and 40k intros fit this description.

> Intro: Usually a few/single effect or screen-based product that loops. It doesn’t need to precede another product.

This also applies to a lot of productions that are hard to categorize as something other than a demo.

> Cracktro: Essentially the same as an intro but serves as the introduction to a main production.

A cracktro is - still for the most part - an intro crediting a game crack, though recent "cracktro competitions" have focused more on a particular vibe or aesthetic particular to such intros.

> On the Amiga, anything up to 64k (also .COM limit of DOS) is considered an intro, and beyond that, it’s a demo.

There are for example 96k intros and, of course, intros with no fixed size limit. And on the Amiga, the term "dentro" - something between an intro and demo - was popularized during the 1990s.

The easiest rule of thumb is that if the author says it's an intro, then it's an intro. :)