LifeForce
Description:	Demo from Andromeda Software Development
Download:	lifeforce.lha       (TIPS: Use the right click menu if your browser takes you back here all the time)
Size:	29Mb
Version:	1.0
Date:	29 Sep 2026
Author:	ASD, port by kas1e
Submitter:	kas1e
Email:	kas1e/yandex ru
Homepage:	https://www.youtube.com/@OMEGA12001
Requirements:	Working setup with mesa.library
Category:	demo/scene
License:	Other
Distribute:	yes
Min OS Version:	4.1
FileID:	14108
Videos:
Comments:	0
Snapshots:	0
Videos:	1
Downloads:	28  (Current version)
	28  (Accumulated)
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  -= L i f e F o r c e =-
  AmigaOS4 port (c) kas1e
  =======================

  ABOUT
  -----

  LifeForce is  a demo by the well-known Greek  demogroup Andromeda Software
  Development (ASD). It was presented at Assembly 2007, where it took a well
  deserved first place.

  .Code / Direction - Navis
  .Music - Amusic and Leviathan
  .2D graphics - Archmage of Andromeda and Amoivikos
  .3D Modelling - Ch3 and Navis

  For more info, visit the demo's page on pouet.net:

  https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=31571


  AMIGAOS4 PORT
  -------------

  For the AmigaOS4 port, I reconstructed the demo from the original  Windows
  binary and the supplied Cg shader files. Since the rest of the source code
  was missing, with Ghidra's help,i produced a byte-identical reconstruction
  of the original executable,then translated the recovered routines into C++
  and got the demo running on x86 under WSL2.From there,a native PPC version
  with the necessary endian fixes were build.

  To make it work fast on our old machines, the original CPU-heavy rendering
  was changed  to  offload much of the  work to the GPU. For example, static
  meshes  stay  in GPU memory, while  shaders  and  compute  handle geometry
  expansion,  fluid  simulation, cloth, curves  and tubes: this  removes CPU
  calculations and repeated geometry uploads.  To avoid  hiccups and  micro-
  stalls in the process,the demo compiles and loads all the shaders at once,
  right at the start, before the demo actually starts. As a result, it takes
  about 60-65 seconds  to load up on an X1000 at 2 GHz, but in turn you  get
  around 300-500 FPS over the whole demo, with no hiccups.

  The whole demo originally used external textures, music and meshes,and the
  packed size of the original demo was 27 MB. I didn't try to lower it much;
  I just  reduced  the  binary size a bit by getting  rid of unnecessary C++
  baggage and unused SDL2 functions, as well as getting rid of the CgEffects
  directory, as all  the shaders are now  internal. And while  the  original
  shaders are no longer used,the final visual result is 1:1 identical to the
  original demo.  

  If you want to run it in windowed mode, use the --win parameter, or simply
  double-click or press Alt+Enter to switch between windowed and  fullscreen
  modes, and, as always, the FPS is shown in the window title when you're in
  windowed mode.


  COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS
  --------------------

  Usage:

      LifeForce [options]

  Options:

      --windowed
      --window
      --win
          Start in a window. Fullscreen desktop mode is used by default.

      --width N
          Set the window width.
          Default: 1344

      --height N
          Set the window height.
          Default: 755

      --vsync
          Enable VSYNC (default off)

      --debug
          Show diagnostic output

      --no-audio
          Disable music

      --help
      -h
          Display the command-line help and exit.


  RUNTIME CONTROLS
  ----------------

      Alt+Enter / Left mouse-button dbl-click
          Toggle fullscreen and windowed modes.

      Escape
          Exit the intro.

  (c) kas1e 29.09.2026