Punish Your Machine (1991)

Punish Your Machine was Delta Force's second megademo after their mindblowing debut, Syntax Terror (1990). While their first demo compilation is still an undisputed Atari ST demo classic, this sophomore piece is the group's magnum opus.

The megademo lives up to its and then some; good old ST is put through its paces in every way imaginable. Delta Force and a variety of other top demo crews, like The Lost Boys, Legacy, Black Monolith Team, Naos, The Overlanders and Mystic, squeeze every clock cycle out of Atari's grey plastic box.

Punish Your Machine is full of memorable moments; beating a previous coding record made on Amiga, Big Alec's stunning music, a screen in super high resolution, a sneak peek at an upcoming video game (The Return of Medusa), and of course, the unbelievable reset screen with thousands of pixels forming a dense starfield and The Lost Boys and Delta Force logos. These are just some of the highlights of the unforgettable show DF and friends put up.

Just like their previous megademo, Punish Your Machine was released at the International Coding Conference (ICC) – an event organised by Delta Force themselves. Punish Your Machine premiered at the second ICC in Leutenbach, Germany in 1991 where the core of the European ST scene was present. 

Find more in Atari ST vol. 2 – Beyond The Borders.