1KB JavaScript Demoscene Challenge Just Launched | Hacker News Reader

1KB JavaScript Demoscene Challenge Just Launched

115 pointsbabakode31 comments

I just launched JS1024 — a creative coding challenge with a strict limit: 1024 bytes of JavaScript.

No libraries. No frameworks. Just raw code.

You can submit visual effects, generative art, tiny games, synths, or whatever you can fit into 1KB of JavaScript.

Think of it as a spiritual successor to JS1k or the 4k demoscene — with a modern twist.

Would love feedback, ideas, or help spreading the word. And if you’ve ever made a tiny JS demo, please share — I’d love to see it.

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Why did you use ChatGPT to write your submission text? I can't speak for everyone, but it makes me much less likely to check out your project as I have less faith in it.

Yes that is true! But the reason is because I do not know english that good I'm not an english speaker, sorry for making the post look spammish

That's fair! I think your english is coming across great by the way. Appreciate the honesty!

One of the things to do is to use it as an editor who can identify things to correct and a translator of your words (in non-english) rather than asking it to generate the material.

For example (and I am a native English speaker but I still make mistakes), https://chatgpt.com/share/d891f9ac-923b-47a8-8de9-ab73017ba9...

By starting from what you write (with your tone and words) it can more accurately maintain that tone and help you identify where you make mistakes and become more proficient in English.

How did you know OP used ChatGPT?

Three emdash's, "spiritual successor", "modern twist."

So I can't use em dashes, without people thinking I am a bot? :-o. But have to say, the "modern twist" is a weird addition that is not natural. There is nothing modern about it.

Apparently not - a non-technical family member told me this exact thing on the weekend.

>So I can't use em dashes, without people thinking I am a bot?

Those are just for ChatGPT specifically, personally I know a ton of peculiarities from a wide variety of models that seem eerily consistent across prompts. You're very unlikely to accidentally use them though, much like spamming em dashes everywhere.

Also this style: "No libraries. No frameworks. Just raw code."

You can use whatever you like, but if you quack like a duck, people might think you're a duck.

I've seen that style plenty before LLMs were a thing, frequently in the demoscene as well.

So to me it seemed totally in character, so to speak.

Here's one to me classic example[1].

[1]: https://youtu.be/RiHUKEEtzNE?t=120

Agreed. But for some reason, LLMs seem to use it more often and combined with other tell tale signs it becomes significantly less likely a human wrote it.

Pretty much.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dash#Usage_in_AI-generated_tex... :

> In April 2025, Rolling Stone reported on the growing perception that the em dash is a hallmark of AI-generated writing, particularly by ChatGPT. The article noted how this idea spread through social media, where users began referring to it as the "ChatGPT hyphen" and how these users advised avoiding it to appear more human.

It's not just a submission —— it's a testament to the rich tapestry of prompting.

Participated in the first two JS1ks. Thanks for bringing this back! Having some nostalgia. I can't believe this is 15 years old already: https://js1k.com/2010-first/demo/688

Thanks for keeping the JS demoscene alive!

My pleasure. I love seeing people being creative

> use your mouse to try and click the evading squares

2010's reality seems so close and yet so distant at the same time while trying to click it with duckduckgo on an android.

Given the amount of features built-in to modern browsers, there should be some very impressive things possible in 1K.

There have been a few cool Javascript things in 140 characters: https://www.dwitter.net/

Anyone looking for ideas should definitely check out:

https://beta.dwitter.net/top/year

Absolutely! That list is a goldmine of ideas hahaha perfect for 1KB inspiration.

This is great! I remember taking part in the first JS1K competition. For some reason, I wrote most of the code semi "optimised" before running it through a "proper" optimiser. Good times!

https://js1k.com/2010-first/details/133

It is unclear if it must be canvas or if using the Dom is allowed.

I found it clear after reading the page, the “Demo Categories & Shim Details” gives three different options.

In short, canvas is not required, using the DOM is allowed.

> You can submit visual effects, generative art, tiny games, synths, or whatever you can fit into 1KB of JavaScript.

There is no mention of canvas

I think any local restrictions, beyond the 1024 character limit, would go against the spirit of it all.

There is two web technologies shims: HTML and Canvas

Happy to see another year!

I think it'd be nice if the rest of the shims were dropped too. "1024 bytes of JavaScript. No libraries. No frameworks. Just raw code". Year by year it's getting easier to do more in the same amount of bytes. Last year's 1st place winner was a plain HTML entry which implemented its own canvas. 8 of all 148 entries 2020-2024 have used the shader shim, fewer than used the deprecated p5js shim in 2020. The categories/category winners are cool but it should be based on what approach was used rather than which framework they started with. E.g. "Sand and Water" is the "js winner" solely because it used the shim and "Splash Dash" didn't but really Splash Dash won both overall and won the js canvas category too, it just did it without the free bytes from the canvas framework.

Did that site just got "slashdotted"? Because none of the examples want to load atm.

It's working for me. All of them. There is no demos submitted for 2025 edition yet tho

Js is fun.

I wonder is someone truly believing this is a good hire ("the new hire can do the JS!") or a bad hire (as in: no clue what a fun programming language is like, or "must have never used JS in anger").

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